Titans Open Up Season in Hostile Territory

The first nationally televised game of the 2009-2010 NFL season will be on September 10th.

The Titans will have to travel to the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'm betting the Steeler faithful will still have the nasty taste in their mouth from when we stomped all over their "terrible towels" after last season's victory at LP Field.

Just recently, Jeff Fisher stated that Vince Young can win the starting job back from Kerry Collins if he has a really good camp. That scares me a bit.

Even if Young does have an impressive camp, if his first game back is at Heinz Field to face a ferocious Steeler defense, then disaster will quickly follow. That could plague the rest of Young's comeback attempt.

The rest of the schedule has no currently been released.

NCAA Tournament Thoughts-Elite 8

The 65 teams we started with has now been dwindled down to just eight teams. This sets up some great matchups for the Elite 8:

1 Connecticut vs. 3 Missouri
1 Pittsburgh vs. 3 Villanova
1 N. Carolina vs. 2 Oklahoma
1 Louisville vs. 2 Michigan St.

Last season was the first time all four #1 seeds made the Final Four, and it looks like it may happen two straight years. However I wouldn't jump the gun. All four #1 seeds are going to have their hands full, and I just can't see all four advancing. I can three of the four winning, but not all four.

I can easily see all of the #1 seeds going down, but the one that is most likely to go down is Pittsburgh. They've looked sluggish in every game despite winning and Villanova is coming off 20+ point win over Duke.

Except for Memphis, my final four is sill entact. Better yet, my championship game which included Louisville and North Carolina is also still a huge possibility because both teams have been dominant during the entire tournament. Here's my predictions:

Louisville over Mich. St, 74-69
Villanova over Pitt, 67-64
UNC over Oklahoma, 85-83
Uconn over Missouri, 74-66

NCAA Tournament Thoughts-Sweet 16

The NCAA Tournament is now down to just 16 teams, and my bracket looks like a trailer park after a tornado just ripped through it.

I do still have all my Final Four teams left ( Villanova, Memphis, UNC, and Louisville) which is extremely important.

Perhaps the biggest shocked of this year's tournament is the fact that the top 3 seeds from each region made the Sweet 16, which is the first time that has happened in tournament history.

The highest seed still remaining is Arizona ( 12 seed) who stopped cinderella from coming to the ball by defeating Cleveland State.

Pittsburgh seems to be the #1 seed who is in the most trouble right now as they have had trouble with both of their games ( East Tenn. State and Oklahoma State). Sam Young has bailed them out in both games and if Young and Blair begin to play as they're capable of, then this is still one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament.

I still like North Carolina as my favorite because of the stellar play of Ty Lawson in the 2nd half of their win over LSU. I believe they will beat Memphis in a thriller due to the lack of major experience of the Tigers.

MTSU 2009 Football Schedule

The 2009 football schedule has been released and I must say it is extremely intriguing. Here's a quick look at the schedule

1. @ Clemson


2. MEMPHIS


3. @ Maryland


4. @ North Texas


5. FIU


6. MISS. ST.


7. ARKANSAS ST.


8. @ FAU


9. @ Louisiana Monroe


10. LOUISIANA LAFFAYETTE


11. @Troy


12. WESTERN KENTUCKY

The schedule may be one of toughest schedules in the history of the program and an 0-3 start is very likely. However, if MTSU can pull out a couple wins over Miss. State, Memphis, Maryland, or Clemson then that will get them a ton of national credit.

It should be a great year with Mississippi State coming to Floyd Stadium, which will be the first SEC school to ever play at Floyd Stadium.

Selection Sunday!!!

The 2009 NCAA Tournament bracket has been set! Here's the four #1 seeds:

1. Pittsburgh


2. Connecticut


3. Louisville


4. North Carolina
   
   

The Big East has three of the four #1 seeds which is just amazing to me. Last year was the first time all four #1 seeds went to the Final Four and this year seems very likely EXCEPT for one.

In the end Memphis ( a #2 seed) will defeat Connecticut in the Elite Eight. It should be a great year but one thing that scared me while filling out my numerous brackets was the lack of a promising Cinderella team this season.

If I had to choose one it would be Mississippi State just because they're hot at the right time after defeating Tennessee in the SEC championship. Should be exciting!!

SEC Tournament time!

The 2009 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament is finally upon us!

The action has already gotten started as Kentucky is currently taking on Ole Miss. Kentucky is leading the Rebels 47-40 with about 15 minutes to go but I wouldn't count Ole Miss out just yet.

Vanderbilt starts off tonight against the Crimson Tide and they should win. They've ended the regular season on a three-game winning streak that included conference-leader LSU, South Carolina, and bottom-dweller Arkansas.

Many think Vanderbilt has to win the SEC Tourney to have any chance to make the Big Dance. However, I think that if they make it to the Conference championship they're in. If they do that they will have beat Tennessee which will boost the tournament resume tremedously.

GO DORES'!

The Titans Finally Add Some Fire Power at the Receiver Position

The Titans made a bold move and signed former Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington. I have to say I love this acquisition! He has a ton of speed, which this team needs at the receiver position. There are some questions looming about his route running but I think he's still an improvement for the Titans wide receiving troubles.

The Titans current roster at wide receiver looks like this:

#1 Receiver Justin Gage
#2 Receiver Nate Washington
#3 Receiver Justin McCarreins
#4 Receiver Lavelle Hawkins
#5 Receiver Chris Davis

Obviously not too pretty but still an improvement with Nate Washington

Keep Them In Your Thoughts and Prayers...

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the three missing men who were tossed from their boat during their fishing trip off the coast of Clearwater, Florida.

The three men were Lions defensive lineman Corey Smith, Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, and William Bleakley who use to play for South Florida.

I can't express my sorrow enough for the families that have been affected. The one survivor was Nick Schuyler who clinged to the boat.

.

A Stompin' at the Sommet Center!

I am absolutely shocked out how bad the Predators beat the Red Wings tonight, and I was there to see every second of the 8-0 stomping!

We scored five 1st period goals, including three in a span of just a couple of minutes. The Red Wings had a ton of fans show up, as usual. There was a huge group of them sitting right in front of us and every time we scored I felt compelled to rub it in their faces!

I will be honest though, the Detroit fans were extremely loyal to their team and stayed to the very end. Kudos to Detroit fans for that!!!

GO PREDS!!!!!!