The combination of JaJuan Smith and Tyler Smith has the state of Tennessee believing they are more than just a football school anymore. Tyler, a sophomore, is averaging 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists a game. His counterpart Tyler, the senior leader of the team, is adding 14.9 points a game. The Volunteers have only lost once, to a very solid Texas team. Their impressive wins come over the likes of West Virginia and the always tough Gonzaga squad. The SEC is down a bit from past years, but Tennessee is still playing at a level good enough to beat anybody regardless of conference.

The Buckeyes are still a decent 12 and 4 of this writing, and have played some one of the toughest schedules in the country, including games against number one UNC and Butler. It’s easy to say you have gone down a notch when you lose your best player, Greg Oden, to the first pick of the draft, but the Buckeyes are obviously still hanging in there. The Big-12 features three teams in the top-25, and seven of the teams already have double digit wins.

While I think Ohio State will continue to get better as the season progresses I think the Volunteers are prone for a win here. Ohio State may end up as a bubble team in the March Madness tournament while Tennessee could be playing for a number one or two seed.

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Everyone knows what assuming does, and it’s no exception here. For most of the season I felt it was going to be the Dallas Cowboys vs. the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. I at least know I’m half wrong now, thanks to the Giants marching into Texas Stadium and defeating the Cowboys on their home turf. The Giants Michael Strahan said before the game about hoping the third time is a charm. One final charm would be for the Giants to some how go into historic Lambeau field and get one more road win and earn their bid to the Super Bowl. After all, they have now won every game they’ve played on the road this year, except their first away game against Dallas. It’s safe to say that they’ve more then made up for that now. More importantly Eli Manning is beginning to look like a high quality playoff quarterback. Manning’s quarterback rating in the two playoff games has been 117.1 against Tampa Bay, and 132.4 against the Cowboys. Besides the final game of the year, against the New England Patriots, where he boasted a 118.6 rating, those two ratings are his best of the year. He has certainly saved his best for last, with his dream date being a rematch of the spectacular 38-35 loss to the Patriots in that final game of the year. First things first, and that is the Patriots have to beat the Chargers and the Giants have to find a way to beat the red hot Packers who suddenly look like a team of destiny.

When Ryan Grant fumbled the ball twice in the opening minutes of the first quarter against the Seahawks he had a choice to make. He could clam up and shy away from the ball the rest of the game, or he could come alive like he did the final half of the season where he ran for the second most yards from week eight on. He chose the latter. He ran the ball 27 times for 201 yards, while scoring three times. He also averaged 7.4 yards a carry. The snow may have been a factor, but to see Grant bounce back in such a matter after staring at adversity in the biggest game of his life is certainly a welcome sign. Also, with a leader like Brett Favre settling the youngster down, you’re bound to get a good reaction. Despite the near blinding snow the majority of the game Favre still completed 18 of 23 passes for three touchdowns and 173 yards. In the past Favre has been known to press when he has fallen behind, but he seemed to play this game the same throughout, eventually downing the Seahawks 42 to 20. Favre finished the day throwing snowballs at his teammates. He hopes that he gets to end the season at home throwing touchdowns against the Giants.

The Giants have found a way to neutralize key players lately as their defense has steadily improved throughout the entire season. I don’t think it’s a shock when I favor the Packers, especially since they will be playing in front of their home crowd, but I just have a feeling the Giants will hang close. This game will be a huge pressure spot for Manning, and I feel many, including myself, are excited to see how he handles the pressure. I predicted that the Cowboys game would rely on the play of Romo, and despite Romo having a decent game, it did comedown to a Romo interception on the end. I feel Manning could be in a similar situation with time expiring and his team down by a few points.

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The San Antonio Spurs are hurting right now, which is a good thing for the Houston Rockets as they try to move up the western conference standings. The Spurs are arguably the best team in the league when they are healthy. For starters they are the defending world champions and with that comes a swagger that is unmatched by any team in the league. They also have three of the best players in the league on the same team in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. The problem arises though when you look at the injury report and see two out of the big three, Duncan and Ginobili, are on that list. Because of that the Spurs are only 5-5 in their last ten games, after spending the early part of the season looking like they were contend with the Boston Celtics for the leagues best record. Assuming the team gets healthy they will continue to be one of the best teams, but right now they just have to wait it out.

The Rockets aren’t favoring much better. Their all-star, Tracy McGrady is on the injured list with a hurt knee. The Rockets will need to look elsewhere to find help with scoring, as they lose 22 points a game with Mcgrady on the bench. The game is a tough choice with both being so hurt. However, the Rockets will have a healthy Yao Ming, and nobody to guard him. I’m leaning towards Houston to win this one.

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The University of Maryland isn’t having a good year. Usually this game is one of the most hotly contested games in every ACC season, but this year it seems to be extremely one-sides. The Terrapins have already lost six games this year, and a few to teams that make you do a double take. Boston College, Ohio, and American beat them in a stretch of three games, not exactly a murderer’s row of schools known for their basketball prowess. The Terps are currently on a four game winning streak, but once again, not against any teams to write home to mom about. However, the winning streak may give them some confidence heading into ACC play, one of, if not the toughest conferences in all of basketball.

There isn’t much you can say badly about the Tar Heels. They are the number one team in the land, and have one of the best players in the land, “Psycho T,” Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds a game and the junior is just getting going. In their last six games the Tar Heels have scored 90 points or more. Their lowest output of the year was 66, and that was an 11 point win over Ohio State.

If the tone of my entry doesn’t do it for you I’ll just spell it out for you. I’m picking UNC to win. Big.

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Both of these teams had a fair amount of success on the gridiron this year, and they hope each hope to continue their success on the basketball court. Both teams enter their Big-12 season with a 9-5 record. In order to keep up with the big guns in the conference they will need to get off on the right foot with a victory.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders, coached by the controversial Bobby Knight, are led by senior guard/forward Martin Zeno. Zeno is a hardnosed, do it all, type of player who averages 16.5 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. Freshman John Robertson has been a nice addition, adding just over 12 points a contest. He’s a player they would like to see develop into a big time player sooner, before later. The Red Raiders enter this game on a three game winning streak.

Oklahoma State comes into the game one better then Texas Tech, they’ve won four in a row. Their scoring comes in the form of freshman James Anderson who has already found a secure spot in the lineup as leading scorer with just under 17 points a game.

Oklahoma has played the tougher schedule, and has beaten the better teams. A quick glace at each teams record shows that Texas Tech has some losses on their record they would be downright embarrassed to have in past years. While I expect Oklahoma State to win the Big-12 opener, I don’t expect them to find much success in the league.

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In years past this story would have wrote itself. Kentucky playing Vanderbilt at home? Easy win for Kentucky. Not to fast this year. Kentucky is the midst of their worse season in years, including losses to Gardner Webb, UAB, and San Diego, not exactly basketball powerhouses. They also have gone through a four game losing streak, and only recently turned it around, winning three of their last four.

The Vanderbilt Commodores on the other hand are 13-0, and ranked among the top-15 teams in the country. They have two players nearly averaging 20 points a game in senior Shan Foster and freshman Andrew Ogilvy. As imagined, this has led to Vandy averaging over 87 points a game, among the top in the nation.

I guess it can be said the Wildcats are in a transition phase, being they just lost their long time coach, and with it some recruits. However, when you play basketball in Kentucky, your transition periods better not last that long. Kentucky fans have grown accustomed to playing deep into March, not having to fight just to stay above .500. Unfortunately for Wildcat fans I think they will be forced to sit through another home loss as I feel Vanderbilt will come into to their home court and beat them by around 10 to 15 points. Kentucky has some players, but it might be a year or two before they develop enough to hang with the big boys.

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This game features a pair of teams that are currently below .500, but are filled with young stars that could bring their teams to glory in just a few years down the road. The Kings may have the tougher of the two roads, as they are in a very tough division, and while they have young talent, they don’t really have any proven leaders on the team. The Pacers are actually still in the playoff hunt for this season because as of this writing there are only six teams in all of the eastern conference that have a winning record.

Former Duke stand out Mike Dunleavy leads the Pacers with 17 points a game. Jamaal Tinsley, who has a scary ordeal early in the year involving a shooting, leads the team with assists, at eight per contest.

The Kings are led by youngster Kevin Martin, who has quietly emerged as a player to keep your eye on in the upcoming years. Martin is averaging over 24 points a game, while trying to keep his team afloat to the best of his abilities. One of the major problems this year is that the Kings have already lost eight games at home. At a time not to long ago it seemed the Kings would take three or four years to lose that many games at home. Despite that, I think the Kings will find a way to defeat the visiting Pacers in what should be a close, competitive game that could go either way.

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The San Diego Chargers won their first playoff game in 13 seasons when they defeated the Tennessee Titans 16-7 in the first round. As a result the Chargers will head to Indianapolis to take on the current Super Bowl champions, and often overlooked this year, Colts.

The Chargers beat the Colts this year in week 10, but I believe that result could be misleading. The Colts were coming off a loss to the New England Patriots, in a game they led late into the game. While ultimately there should be no excuses in football, I feel the Colts were coming down from a high, when they went to face the then struggling Chargers. However, the Chargers will hold that mental edge going into the game, which should mean something. The Chargers also finished very hot down the stretch, winning six and a row. The play of Phillip Rivers has been extraordinary as well, especially after he was seen as the reason for their problems early in the year. Over the last three games of the year though, his passer rating was over 100, for the year his rating is only 82.4, so he is obviously riding a hot streak at the right time of the season. They also have a player that you may have heard of named LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson only ran for 42 yards in the opening win against the Titans, but his touchdown was a deciding factor in the game. The Chargers will need a bigger game from Tomlinson if they expect to march into Indianapolis and sneak out with a victory.

The Colts spent their time off getting all of their players healthy. Wide Receiver Marvin Harrison, who hasn’t played since week seven, is listed as questionable on the injury list, but by all accounts he is expected to play. An injured knee has kept him off the field, but if he can return against the Chargers he will be a huge boost to the team. It’s not that Peyton Manning hasn’t had any wide receiver option this year. Reggie Wayne has filled in as the number one option, catching 104 balls for ten touchdowns and over 1500 yards. To add another threat like Harrison to the mix will make the Colts a tough team to beat. Speaking of Manning, he finished with over 4000 yards passing and 31 touchdowns. That’s usually a pretty good year, but when you play in the same conference as Tom Brady, your stats are probably going to be somewhat overlooked.

The Colts ultimately want to get another game with the Patriots, or whoever will be awaiting them in the AFC championship game. In order to do that they will have to beat the red hot Chargers. I feel the Colts looked past the Chargers once this year but the team full of veterans will not let themselves do that again. In what I predict to be the most exciting game of the week, I feel the Colts win during the last drive of the game, winning 31-28.

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Seattle ended the Washington Redskins remarkable run to the playoffs with a 35-14 victory last Saturday while the Green Bay Packers rested at home awaiting the winner. Despite the lopsided score, the Redskins had a 14-13 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game, so the Seahawks got nothing in the way of a rest in that game. Now they travel to Green Bay where but the cold weather and the great fans make the Packers the favorite to mean on to the NFC conference championships. However, experience, and their own amount of fair talent, may just be enough for Seattle to be the ones to advance.

Seattle brings Matt Hasselbeck and Shawn Alexander back for another run, the same players that helped bring the Seahawks to the Super Bowl in 2005. Hasselbeck overcame some mistakes in the Redskins game to finish the contest with 229 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. While Alexander can still be a factor, there may be a changing of the guard in Seattle, with Maurice Morris set to take over. During the regular season Morris saw about 1/3rd less the carries as Alexander but he finished with the same amount of touchdowns (4) and 4.5 yards per carry, one full yard more then Alexander. In the first round of the playoffs the Seattle run game was nearly obsolete. Morris ran for 13 yards and Alexander had 46. The Green Bay Packers can relate, as they’ve ran up a 13-3 regular season record, mostly without a featured back.

When you think of the Packers the first thing you think of is cheese heads. After that you think of 18 year pro Brett Favre. After a couple of years as taking barbs as being “washed up,” “spent,” and “past his prime,” the ageless one has his team as one of the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl. Favre had his best year and many seasons, compiling over 4100 yards passing. As mentioned, the Packers didn’t have running success the majority of the season, but then along came Ryan Grant. Grant introduced himself to the rest of the league during a week eight victory over the Broncos and 104 rushing yards. After playing very sparingly nearly the first half of the year Grant finished the year with almost 1000 yards rushing, and an attempt per carry of over five.

It’s really hard to go against Favre in Green Bay, and I won’t be doing it here. I feel that Seattle is beatable, especially at Lambeau field. The Packers defense is also among the tops in the league, and while no running game may get you a win against Washington, I don’t think they will be able to find the same success against the Packers. I fancy the Packers in this one by a score of 31-20.

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The Washington State Cougars are off to their best start in school history, but will have a stiff challenge as they travel to California to take on O.J. Mayo and the USC Trojans. The Cougars have opened the season 12-0, and have looked great doing it. Their biggest victory of the year came against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, in Gonzaga, one of the toughest places to play in the entire country. Other than that four point victory, they really haven’t been tested much, but to be fair their schedule hasn’t been that hard. They are a very balanced team, which sees three of their starters averaging double digits, led by the 13 by senior guard Derrick Low. Also, here comes a stat that is almost unheard of in this day and age. The top seven players who see significant playing time with the Cougars are either a junior or a senior. They are clearly not lacking experience, which will be a huge plus the deeper they get into the season.

Mayo made big news when he decided to go to USC, a move that surprised some, as USC isn’t seen as a huge powerhouse school. His signing brought the school instant attention, and he has the team playing fairly well. As of this writing they are 9-3. In my opinion I think this is the hardest game of the year for Washington State. The Trojans have played tough with everyone they’ve played, including an overtime loss to the number two team in the country, Memphis Tigers.

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