Head on Over to The Victoria Times....

As you can see, I pretty much stopped writing semi-regularly on this site on December 13, 2006. But my writing days are far from over. The post below from July 2007 was both the last post to appear on this site and the first "guest" post I made on Ryan's Victoria Times site, which is building a bigger list of readers every day and has had top stories on ballhype, and been linked to many times from Deadspin and other popular blogs like Boiled Sports and Barry Melrose Rocks. I now write weekly on Victoria Times, if not more often, so you can check out all of my latest posts there. It's hard to believe we started the original Is It Sports? more than 3 years ago, and now we're starting to enjoy at least a little bit of popularity.

With all the links above, here's the Victoria Times link again.

We've Got Controversy!

This post was originally written by me but posted on Ryan's Victoria Times.

Even though I haven't updated my own site in over 6 months, Ryan asked me to do a special guest post on his site over the weekend, so here we go. I kind of feel like Brian Kenny when he fills in at ESPN radio, but I promise not to spend 90% of this post talking about boxing and claiming that UFC is just a "trend" and that boxing is the supreme sport. Anyways....We've got controversy everywhere in sports right now...let's break it down...

- In case you've been living in a cave, Barry Bonds is on the verge of breaking the most well known record in sports, and impressively during his march to 755 HR his hat grew about 8 sizes. The steroids issue in baseball is far from over, and will be an increasingly hotter topic over the next few years as more and more guys from the 90s become Hall of Fame eligible. So what do I think about this? It's all relevant. 75% of the guys that have been caught since testing began have been pitchers. So the roided-up hitters were hitting HR off of roided-up pitchers. Sounds fair to me, might as well elect them all and let the people of this generation pass on these stories to their children when they visit the Hall of Fame or look at record books. The hitters from this generation that didn't use steroids will obviously be held in higher regard in the future, and if future hitters (like Alex Rodriguez) wind up toppling these records, that will make them even bigger legends and something for baseball to be proud of. Another thing the Hall of Fame can do is give higher regard to the singles hitters, great fielders, and great base stealers of this era. I'm not saying that puts Scott Podsednik in the hall of fame, but it could make things more fair.

- The NFL is being stung with a flurry of arrests and indictments, with the biggest obviously being Michael Vick and his dogfighting. Now, I'm fine with believing in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, but I've never been suspected of dog fighting, and you've never been suspected of dog fighting. That's not something that you just get accused of if you aren't involved in at least some way. What I don't understand about this is....why is he involved with this? It's not like he needs the money from taking bets. So he obviously just thinks its cool to watch dogs fight. So as a result of this, it looks like your 2007 Atlanta Falcons starting QB is none other than: Joey Harrington! Can we start a new "Harrington" curse? It seems like now wherever he goes, he winds up starting due to some injury/arrest. I wonder if he won't be able to find a job in 2008 just because a team doesn't want their starting QB to be brought up on genocide charges by the U.N.

- Hot off the press in the NBA's latest controversy. A referee that bet on games and fixed the finishes. That's a pretty big charge that can tarnish the league for years, but a lot of people suspected that this has been happening in the league for a long time with Dick Bavetta being assigned to playoff series in order to extend them to 7 games to generate more money. Let's also not forget the alleged frozen envelope from the 1985 Draft Lottery. I guess this definitely explains the Toronto Raptors winning a division title this year. In a league where all of this is happening, I'm surprised that dull, fundamentally sound teams have won 5 of the last 9 titles. Maybe the NBA needs to use this referee and the mafia as special consultants to come to a more profitable solution in the future.

- Even a sport that's fake has been in the news lately, where a pro wrestler flipped out (possibly due to steroids) and killed his family and himself. This is a sad situation and I won't discuss it more out of respect, but the common thread with all of these sports is that they are in the news, being talked about, and generating interest, even though the publicity is bad. What's being left out here? The NHL...

- The NHL endured a betting scandal of its own that involved its most famous player's wife, but the story kind of fizzled out and the NHL is once again out of the national news. So here's my proposal to get hockey back on the map: During intermissions between periods of games, the entertainment must be dog fights, but not just any dog fights, but steroid injected dogs fighting, in which all in attendance will be forced to bet on or be subjected to steroid injections themselves. And instead of having the new shootout rule to break a tie, the result of the dog fights will determine who wins the game, but only if the referees and mafia approve.

So there we go. My first post in months. Obviously I'm just kidding about the NHL proposal and the league should be commended on not having any major controversy right now as the other leagues are suffering through their own. These kind of stories actually make sports more interesting because if they weren't happening, you would have to think about things like the upcoming mid-week series between the Orioles and Devil Rays. On that note, the 2nd highest paid player on the Devil Rays is none other than the legendary Casey Fossum. Maybe the MLB and NBA aren't all that different after all....

The Simulated National Championship

Well here it is, the national championship game, simulated as a result of my 16-team tournament. And your national champs are.....

THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

24 20

If it weren't for 4 long passes, this game would have been an absolute defensive battle. Chad Henne struggled early, throwing 2 interceptions that lead to Ohio State field goals and a 6-3 OSU lead with less than a minute to go in the first half. But Michigan didn't just run out the last minute when they got the ball back. Henne hit Mario Manningham with an 83 yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to go up 10-6. They weren't finished yet. Michigan then used their timeouts to force Ohio State to punt. Following the punt, Henne connected with Steve Breaston for a 68 yard touchdown pass, giving Michigan the shocking 17-6 halftime lead. The 3rd quarter was marked by good defensive play on both sides until Troy Smith retalliated with a 76 yard touchdown to Roy Hall on the final play of the quarter to make the score 17-13. In the 4th, Michigan could still not get anything going on offense. Another sharp passing attack by Ohio State put the Buckeyes ahead 20-17 with a touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez. Michigan fought back with the first drive of the game that didn't involve a long pass to take a 24-20 lead with just under 3 minutes to go when Henne completed a TD to tight end Tyler Ecker. The time then came for Troy Smith to earn his Heisman. Ohio State was quickly stopped on the following drive, and they decided to punt. Michigan strung together some first downs, but, luckily for them, Henne threw his 4th interception of the game to give the Buckeyes one more chance with less than a minute to go. They drove down the field and it came down to a 4th and 9 on Michigan's 10 yard line with 23 seconds to go, but the game winning touchdown pass was deflected away from Ted Ginn and Michigan took a knee to become the national champs.

So there you have it. I think if a tournament like mine actually existed and would have wound up the way it did, there might not be any complaints, even from college football purists. The two teams in the championship game earned their way in and it came down to an exciting finish. Florida fans couldn't complain, because their team lost by 11 to the MAC champion. Well, I really enjoyed doing this over the past few weeks, but now I need to come up with another topic for this site.....hmm.....

Semifinals: Rose and Orange Bowls

We're down to the final 4. Two of the teams were pretty much expected to make it this far, Ohio State and Michigan, and the other two teams, BYU and Central Michigan are total surprises. Will the national title game be OSU-Michigan like many would have liked to see, will it be a battle between 2 major underdogs, or will it be a combination? Time to find out

7 43

Ohio State finally plays a game that proves their ranking. Even though they put 43 points on the board, which came from 4 TDs and 5 field goals (including 2 50+ yarders) from their kicker, the Buckeyes' defense was the real story here. The Beck non-brothers of BYU combined to throw 8 interceptions in this game, 4 each. Two were returned for touchdowns. Ohio State's offense did not need to do much because of this, and Troy Smith only hooked up with Ted Ginn once, but it was for a 77 yard TD. OSU even pulled Troy Smith in the 4th to rest him for the national championship game. Ohio State dominates....not much else to say.

14 48

The surprising Chippewas have finally fallen, but not without a blaze of glory. Both of their touchdowns were over 90 yards. The first was 94 yard bomb to make the game 10-7 in the first quarter. The 2nd was a 96 yard interception return to cut Michigan's lead to 24-14 just as they were about to take a 31-7 lead into halftime. However, Michigan had some tricks up their sleeves as well. Steve Breaston returned the kickoff following the interception 99 yards for a TD to give Michigan a 31-14 halftime lead. The Wolverines added 2 more TD passes from Chad Henne, giving him a total of 4, in the 2nd half to give Michigan the clear victory.


So there we have it. Despite all the crazy upsets, the National Championship game will be #1 Ohio State vs. #3 Michigan, probably just like it should have been. It's not surprising to me that Ohio State is in this game because they are ranked #1 in the video game, but Michigan is ranked #14 but still managed to blow out #3 Notre Dame when they played in this tournament. I guess these games are more realistic than I thought before. The results of the national title game will be up on Wednesday or Thursday. Should be interesting.

Round 2 of the College Football Tournament

Round 1 of the simulated NCAA Football tournament featured tons of close games, wild finishes, and upsets. The 2nd round? not so much. But the truly dominant teams came out to play and BYU and Central Michigan are playing the roles of George Mason and Bradley in this tourney so far. Let's go to the results...

0 30

Sloppy game with a showing of Ohio State's dominance. Troy Smith only threw for 219 yards for 0 TD and 3 INTs, but Brandon Cox outdid him by throwing for only 113 yards 0 TD and 4 INT, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Auburn had 7 turnovers in total. Ohio State only scored 1 offensive TD. They got the remaining 16 points from 4 field goals and 2 safeties, which were the result of Troy Smith throwing an interception at the 1 yard line twice.

35 7

Another game filled with interceptions. At one point near the end of the first half, there were 3 interceptions thrown back-to-back-to-back. BYU starting QB John Beck was injured early in the game and was replaced by Jason Beck (no relation) who threw for 3 TDs but also 3 INTs. However, just like in the last game, 2 of the 3 INTs set up safeties for BYU. Wake Forest was not able to get anything going on offense in this game beyond their 1st quarter TD. The mid-major team advances to the final four.

24 44

Michigan dominated from the very beginning of this game and never looked back. Mike Hart had 139 yards rushing and 2 TD's and Steve Breaston caught a 73 yard TD Pass right before the end of the first half to give Michigan a 28-10 lead. An interception return for a TD was Notre Dame's only first half touchdown, and Michigan had one as well in the 4th to make the score 44-17. Notre Dame scored a garbage time TD with only 24 seconds left. Ironically, this score is similar to when these teams played in real life this season, and the exact same score from Notre Dame's last game, where they were crushed by USC.

36 23

Somewhere, Dick Vitale is smiling. Central Michigan must have watched a lot of tapes of George Mason last year. Strong defense and electrifying passing gets them another victory with Dan LeFevour throwing for over 400 yards and completing several bombs. CMU held a 7-0 lead going into halftime, but capitalized on Sooner turnovers in the 2nd half to take a 23-0 lead. Oklahoma retaliated with a TD and a 2, then intercepted LeFevour and returned it for another TD and 2 to make it a ball game again. However almost immediately, Central hooked up for a 72 yard TD pass and then recovered a fumble on the following kickoff that lead to field goal to put them ahead 33-16, and they never looked back. Can you imagine seeing Trev Alberts hanging out for a week in Mt. Pleasant, MI to hype up their Orange Bowl appearance? I can.


THE FINAL FOUR
#1 Ohio State vs. #13 BYU @ The Rose Bowl
#3 Michigan vs. #15 Central Michigan @ The Orange Bowl

Tournament Time: 1st Round Results

The first round of my college football tournament is in the books. Here's how the games turned out....

1724

In a back and forth game, Troy had a 17-14 lead going into the 4th. Ohio State took a 24-17 lead with an 82 yard TD pass from Troy Smith to Ted Ginn


46 31

Boise State returned the opening kickoff for a TD, but then Auburn bounced back with 24 unanswered points. The teams traded scores from there and Auburn tacked on a safety near the end. Boise State couldn’t get any running game going at all, and Auburn’s offense was pretty much unstoppable. Courtney Taylor had 7 catches for 188 yards and 4 TD in the game.

44 38

BYU took an early 27-0 lead due to turnovers by LSU deep in their own territory. LSU fought back to make it 27-24 in the 3rd quarter. BYU eventually rebounded to take a 41-31 lead, and added a 49-yard field goal with only 1:16 to go to make it 44-31. JaMarcus Russell, who had 3 TD and 2 INT, was injured on the following drive, but Matt Flynn came in to lead them to a TD with 31 seconds to go. LSU recovered an onside kick and then completed a Hail Mary as time expired but the receiver was tackled just short of the goal line to end the game.

35 32

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. USC had a lot of them early, and Wake Forest jumped out to a 28-0 lead. The Trojans bounced back to make it close, but never held a lead. John David Booty threw for 403 yards and 3 TD, but his 3 INT’s did him early.

31 44

Houston fought tough at the beginning, taking a 10-0 lead into the 2nd quarter. The game was even tied at half time 17-17, but Michigan pulled away in the 2nd half, usually having a 2 touchdown lead at any given time. Chad Henne lead the Michigan air attack with 5 TD’s

42 41

The game started off pretty even, with both offenses even having similar stats near the end of the first half. Brady Quinn threw 2 costly interceptions that turned into points for Louisville, giving them a 34-17 halftime lead. In the 2nd half, Notre Dame made a strong comeback, but was stopped just short of the goal line on 4th down while losing 41-34 with only 1:16 remaining. However, in Louisville’s first play from scrimmage following the turnover, the running back was tackled in the end zone for a safety, making it 41-36. In sickening Notre Dame fashion, they were able to score the go ahead TD (missing the 2) after the great field position they got after the free kick. Brady Quinn wound up throwing for 513 yards.

29 6

Oklahoma’s defense dominated, shutting down Wisconsin’s running game and picking off John Stocco 3 times. Wisconsin’s only score was late in the 4th quarter when Stocco completed an 82 yard TD pass to Marcus Randle El, only to have their extra point blocked. Oklahoma started with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and kicked 5 field goals after that.

21 10

Upset City Baby!! But its pretty easy for Florida to be upset when Chris Leak throws 4 INT's, all in Central Michigan territory. Central's passing game was strong, connecting for 2 long passing TD's, and the defense held Florida to only 3 points in the 2nd half.


2nd Round Matchups
#1 Ohio State vs. #9 Auburn @ Indianapolis
#12 Wake Forest vs. #13 BYU @ Jacksonville
#3 Michigan vs. #11 Notre Dame @ Detroit
#10 Oklahoma vs. #15 Central Michigan @ Kansas City

Let the Games Begin!

Well the final polls are out, and now its time to put together the final matchups for my college football tournament plan.

Before I begin, some people that have read this have asked me about scheduling. Well this is what I would do. The first round would be held the Saturday after finals end for the students, which this year is Saturday, December 16. The 2nd round would be held on Saturday, December 23. The Semis would be held on New Year's Day, Monday, January 1, and the championship would be held on Monday, January 8.

Now, where would the games be held? The 3 major bowls that are currently held in cities that were not recently devastated are the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. So the Semis and the Finals will rotate between Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. The First and Second round games will be held in neutral locations. Each conference will have a "home" stadium (listed below) where the higher seed in the game will play. If there are 2 or even 3 teams from the same conference that are the higher seed that given week, then the game will be played in the next closest available neutral location (thanks to Ryan for helping me decide on the first 2 round format and locations).

ACC: Alltell Stadium - Jacksonville, FL
Big 12: Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, MO
Big East (and Notre Dame): Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ
Big Ten: RCA Dome (Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008) - Indianapolis, IN
C-USA: Reliant Stadium - Houston, TX
MAC: Ford Field - Detroit, MI
Mountain West: Rice-Eccles Stadium - Salt Lake City, UT
PAC-10: Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego, CA
SEC: Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA
Sun Belt: Superdome - New Orleans, LA
WAC: Monster Park - San Francisco, CA

Now how it all shakes out....

Conference Champs
ACC: Wake Forest (14)
Big 12: Oklahoma (10)
Big East: Louisville (6)
Big Ten: Ohio State (1)
C-USA: Houston (NR)
MAC: Central Michigan (NR)
Moutain West: BYU (20)
PAC-10: USC (5)
SEC: Florida (2)
Sun Belt: Troy (NR)
WAC: Boise State (8)

At-Large Teams: Michigan (3), LSU (4), Wisconsin (7), Auburn (9), Notre Dame (11)

First Round Matchups:
#1 Ohio State vs. #16 Troy @ Indianapolis
#8 Boise State vs. #9 Auburn @ San Francisco
#4 LSU vs. #13 BYU @ New Orleans
#5 USC vs. #12 Wake Forest @ San Diego
#3 Michigan vs. #14 Houston @ Detroit
#6 Louisville vs. #11 Notre Dame @ East Rutherford
#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Oklahoma @ Kansas City
#2 Florida vs. #15 Central Michigan @ Atlanta

I actually invested money in this site today, by buying NCAA 07 for the Playstation 2, even though its been a very long time since I've even played video games. I'm going to simulate the results and see how it turns out.

College Football Tournament: Let the Speculation End

Ok. Time for another College Football tournament update. Next week I'll be able to release the "final" bracket.

Conference Leaders
ACC: Wake Forest (17)
Big 12: Oklahoma (12)
Big East: Rutgers (13)
Big Ten: Ohio State (1)
C-USA: Houston (NR)
MAC: Ohio (NR)
Mountain West: BYU (21)
Pac-10: USC (2)
SEC: Florida (4)
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee State (NR)
WAC: Boise State (8)

At-Large Teams: Michigan (3), LSU (5), Louisville (6), Wisconsin (7), Arkansas (9)

First Round Matchups
#1 Ohio State vs. #16 Middle Tennessee State
#8 Boise State vs. #9 Arkansas
#4 Florida vs. #13 BYU
#5 LSU vs. #12 Wake Forest
#3 Michigan vs. #14 Houston
#6 Louisville vs. #11 Rutgers
#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Oklahoma
#2 USC vs. #15 Ohio

Week 12 Through Someone Else's Eyes (That has NFL Sunday Ticket)

I wrote this on Ryan's Victoria Times site. Enjoy....


Since Ryan went to the Vikes-Cards game this weekend (see below), he asked me to fill in for him on his weekly NFL post. I didn't see all of the games, but I happen to be a proud owner of NFL Sunday Ticket, so I did get to catch bits and pieces of every single Sunday game. Since I'm writing on VT for the first time, I'll take this moment to shamelessly promote my site here...Is It Sports?

Thanksgiving Games
Dolphins vs. Lions - The Lions season closely resembles their owners' profit margins...completely tanking, on the verge of collapse. I thought if anything, just this one time, they could get their act together and show the world they are at least better off without Joey Harrington. But once again the Lions showed the world in the Thanksgiving spotlight they are the 2nd most poorly run franchise in the NFL. Right now I'm just waiting for Toyota to buy them, convert them to a soccer team, and move them to Japan.

Cowboys vs. Buccaneers - Didn't see any of it, but America apparently has Tony Romo fever now. I'd write him off, but from looking at this year's NFC with heavily flawed teams and remembering Kurt Warner's contract with Satan in 1999, anything is possible.

Chiefs vs. Broncos - The Broncos are abandoning Jake Plummer in favor of Jay Cutler, and I say, why not? Just close your eyes and try to imagine Jake Plummer holding a Super Bowl trophy. You can't right? Well, I think that's a great reason to bench him. Great QB's win Super Bowls (except Jim McMahon, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, and Mark Rypien) and Plummer is far from great. It's like he's gotten a free pass and contract renewals just because he played for the Cardinals, so people think the team was holding him back. His career has been filled with dumb decisions and tons of interceptions, but that won't stop someone else from having him on their team next year. At least those 4 guys I mentioned above were smart enough to stay out of their defense and running games' way.

Sunday Pregame Shows - I was watching ESPN, hoping to see their story about Fantasy Football, and the touchy-feely-ESPN-trying-to-win-an-emmy music comes on, and they start talking about Nick Mangold's sister. Following my Sportscenter Procedure, I immediately switch to CBS, only to see someone shopping with a small boy with soft music in the background. So I eventually settle on a 7-minute long chuckle involving everyone on Fox. But you know what? I'd take the chuckle any day. Call me crazy, but I think people watch pregame shows to get pumped up for the games, check injuries, see interviews with players and coaches, and get expert picks. Why do all the networks insist on sucking away 10 minutes of our lives on a somber story that is usually on the far, far fringes of anything resembling football? Isn't this why ESPN has a show called "Outside the Lines"?

Saints vs. Falcons - We learned 2 things from this game. The Saints are pretty much a lock for the playoffs in the dismal NFC, and the Falcons are just hopelessly lost. On the plus side, maybe if Michael Vick flips off enough people, even more people in Atlanta outside the 33 sports fans will take notice.

Bills vs. Jaguars - The Bills and 49ers are similar in the sense that both of their 5-6 records are the product of them being at the bottom of the middle of the pack teams that can beat the really bad teams but then get crushed by the really good ones. For the Jaguars, there should be a rule that losing to Houston twice and Buffalo automatically eliminates you from the playoffs

Bengals vs. Browns - The Browns celebrate 50 years of horrible uniforms by getting shut out. If we've learned anyting is that Throwbacks = Losses and Coaches in Suits = Wins. The Solution? Romeo Crennel in a suit.....uh...nevermind.

Rams vs. 49ers - The Niners are actually fun to watch again, but they are still a year or 2 away. especially on defense. Both of these teams are showing signs of life, but neither has much of a chance to make a run at the wild card or catch Seattle for the West title.

Vikings vs. Cardinals - Ryan already explained this one in detail...Note to the Cardinals: When you give up 3 passing TD's to a 38 year-old Brad Johnson, things may not be going well for you.

Jets vs. Texans - All I remember about this one was watching Samkon Gado getting a one yard gain, enjoying a nice laugh, and changing the channel

Redskins vs. Panthers - Apparenly, no one wants the last wild card spot in the NFC. It's basically Carolina's for the taking, but they're too pathetic to scoop it up. Jake Delhomme makes a lot of bad decisions, and watching him play while starting him in fantasy football could be bad for your health. I know he went to a Super Bowl with them, but he's really only mediocre. Imagine Drew Brees with the recievers Delhomme has. Scary, huh?

Ravens vs. Steelers - I guess the Super Bowl loser curse effects the team that should have lost... Meanwhile, the Ravens and Chargers are getting me very excited for the AFC Playoffs.

Chargers vs. Raiders - What more is there to say about LT at this point? As I mentioned above, the Ravens and Chargers are looking tough to beat and they'll be in the playoffs with the Colts and Pats...should be interesting. Also, we might get a Denver team with a rookie QB and the crazy Jaguars to compliment those 4 big boys. Also, don't look now, but the Raiders are fiesty. I know people have knocked them a lot this year, and they deserve it, but their defense is solid. The way the NFL is today, with some major offensive changes and a good draft, they could be back in the playoffs next year.

Titans vs. Giants - What an amazing finish...but I was busy driving through Indiana. What more is there to say, really? The Titans are starting to rally behind Vince Young and they could be a strong team next season. You could say this game pretty much sticks a fork in the Giants' season, but in reality, if they don't make the playoffs, who will?

Patriots vs. Bears - A sloppy game, and the Patriots, who are probably the 4th or 5th best team in the AFC, take down the best team in the NFC. The Bears are really not as good as everyone thinks they are. Their offense is falling apart, and Grossman's bad decisions are not making a turnaround any easier.

Colts vs. Eagles - I'm sure NBC execs were just beyond pleased when they picked this game for prime time, after McNabb went down. I mean, America loves Jeff Garcia, but the Colts? come on.

Seahawks vs. Packers - Thank You, Shaun Alexander, for getting my fantasy team a win this week, and thanks to your entire season of work, I'm now 3-9. But seriously, isn't Brett Favre losing in the snow enough to convince everyone, including himself, that he is beyond washed up? You know what, screw it, I'm not getting into that debate. I hope he plays forever and changes his mind about retirement over and over again each year, becuase it makes for such intriguing television. And if him never retiring will prevent ESPN from making a touchy-feely story about him in retirement one day, then I'm all for it.

I almost published this post without another shameless plug: Is It Sports?

$136 Million for What?

There was quite a stir in the baseball world in the past few days. Alfonso Soriano signed an 8-year, $136 million deal with the Cubs. Now, before everyone gets all excited about how the Cubs are going to snap their now 99-year World Series drought, let's just step back and think about this. When was the last time a team signed a big name free agent, while having only 1 decent starting pitcher, and turned around from a miserable season to win a World Series? Remember how many World Series rings A-Rod picked up in Texas? Sure, the Cubs will have a lineup to fear with Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Jones, etc** (**=If they are all healthy enough during the season for all of them to be in the lineup together for more than 50 games), but my concern is who will be hitting 9th. Carlos Zambrano has been dominant, and I won't take that away from them, but the rest of their rotation SUCKS. Are Sean Marshall and Rich Hill pitchers you'd like in your rotation to lead you to a World Series? "But dude, once we get Wood and Prior back its over!!!!1111" Uh...yeah. Well the last time those guys had good, healthy seasons it was 2003. A lot can change in that time. Prior has become absolutely hittable, and he was terrible in his limited work last season. Kerry Wood's career is over, but the Cubs still feel like paying him out of the kindness of their hearts I guess. I guess if claiming he'll be back some day gets female bartenders and bottom of the totem pole accountants that like to drink Old Style and stare at bartenders to come to games, then he's worth his pay. So congrats, Cubs. You're the Baltimore Orioles of the National League.

Tournment Time...
Conference Leaders (ties broken by BCS rank)
ACC: Georgia Tech (16)
Big 12: Texas (13)
Big East: West Virginia (7)
Big Ten: Ohio State (1)
C-USA: Houston (NR)
MAC: Ohio (NR)
Mountain West: BYU (23)
Pac-10: USC (3)
SEC: Florida (4)
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee State (NR)
WAC: Boise State (11)

At-Large Teams: Michigan (2), Notre Dame (5), Arkansas (6), Wisconsin (8), Louisville (9)

First Round Matchups
#1 Ohio State vs. #16 Middle Tennessee State
#8 Wisconsin vs. #9 Louisville
#4 Florida vs. #13 BYU
#5 Notre Dame vs. #12 Georgia Tech
#3 USC vs. #14 Houston
#6 Arkansas vs. #11 Texas
#7 West Virginia vs. #10 Boise State
#2 Michigan vs. #15 Ohio