Top Two Teams Go Down, But Does It Really Matter?

Two more huge upsets have left college basketball analysts and fans alike scratching their heads at who could possibly be the best team in college basketball right now.

No.1 Kansas went down to unranked Oklahoma State and No.2 Kentucky suffered their second loss of the season to No.19 Tennessee.

Both of these losses should be taken with a grain of salt in all honesty. Both came on the road and both teams have their reasons to look at the glass half-full here.

First of all Kansas (27-2) didn't have that bad of a game. They shot 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc against a 20-win team.

Apparently Oklahoma State was poised for this huge victory that most certainly puts them in the field of 65. They had to have the best shooting day from field in over three years to win by only eight points. Their field goal percentage was 60 percent.

As for Kentucky (27-2) once again their youth got them into a little trouble. They kept firing blanks from behind the arc instead of pounding it inside to Cousins and Patterson.

Once again, however, their talent got them back into the game. They actually had the game tied a 65-65 with a little over two minutes remaining and it looked like Kentucky had all the momentum to win another close SEC game.

To steal a cliche from Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.

Tennessee went on a 9-0 run to close the game out. For everyone who isn't keeping score at home, that means Tennessee has defeated the No.1 and No.2 team this season which hasn't happened in college basketball since 2002.

To get back to the question of who is exactly the best team, I believe it's down to four teams: Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, or Duke.

Sorry, that's the best I can do at this point.

The number one ranking is very overrated in college basketball and in all reality these two losses by Kentucky and Kansas really mean nothing. If Kentucky loses another game then they might fall back to a No.2 seed. Kansas is just good no matter how you look at it.

It should be a great March Madness and good luck filling out your brackets.

With this year's parody in college basketball you should hope for the best with your brackets, but expect the worst!



My Current Top Five

1. Kansas (27-2) Last week: Lost to Okla. St, Def. Oklahoma, Def. Colorado
2. Syracuse (26-2) Last week: Def. Providence
3. Villanova (23-4) Last week: Def. South Florida, Lost to Pitt
4. Duke (24-4) Last week: Def. Tulsa, Def. V. Tech
5. Purdue (24-3) Last week: Def. Minnesota
   

Almost In: Kentucky (27-2), Kansas State (22-4)

Titans Should Make Move For Tomlinson, Westbrook

Two of the NFL's best veteran running backs, Ladanian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, are bidding farewell to their franchises that both have called home for a while now. Tomlinson for nine seasons and Westbrook for eight seasons. Both have already expressed their desires to keep playing.

As for the Titans, they have to look at these two situations as an opportunity to give some help to Chris Johnson. The NFL has turned into a league that features two tailbacks per team and the Titans only have one to lean on right now.

Most likely Lendale White will depart during the offseason leaving the Titans with very little experience at the position. That's where Tomlinson and Westrbrook come into play.

Tomlinson is the better choice for the Titans because he runs more like Chris Johnson and would be a great mentor.

Even though Tomlinson is the better fit for the Titans, Westbrook's style of play would fit very well with the Jeff Fisher's offense scheme as well.

Westbrook is a running back that can lead your team in receptions week after week and Fisher loves to throw screen passes and dumb-off passes in his offense.

There are still a ton of questions about Westbrook's ability to stay healthy for an entire season so that has to be put into consideration here.

Either way, the Titans need another proven running back to help out Chris Johnson in the backfield.

There's no reason for the Titans to sit on their hands this offseason like they've done so many times in the past. It's time to make a move and see if the Titans can find their way back to the postseason.

Just How "Miraculous" Was the Win Over Canada?

Just shortly after Team USA upset Cananda 5-3 on Sunday many people were comparing this win to the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980 when we upset the heavily favored Russians in Lake Placid.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here even though it is really easy to. Although it was a great win for U.S hockey, the gap between ourselves and Canada is nowhere near the gap that there was between us and the Russians in 1980.

Team Canada hasn't looked spectacular during this year's Olympics. It took a shootout to get past Switzerland while Team USA defeated the Swiss in regulation, 3-1.

You also have to really study the "Miracle on Ice" to understand how big of an upset that actually was.

The Russians were ahead by one goal three separate times during the game before Team USA notched back-to-back goals to take the lead. There was also still ten minutes left in the game for the Russians to tally the tying goal and go for the win.

Sunday's game was predominantly led by Team USA on the scoreboard as they scored 40 seconds into the game. They also led 4-2 before Sidney Crosby added a power play goal with less than four minutes remaining.

What really made this such a great game was the stellar net-minding by Ryan Miller. He made 42 saves including three simultaneous saves in the third period to keep Team USA ahead.

We also can't get too big-headed here. There's still a ton of work to do. When you really look at it Team USA got bailed out by Ryan Miller. They were outshot 45-22 which will probably lead to a loss in the medal rounds.

The next game will be against either Switzerland or Belarus. I expect a rematch against the Swiss to be the next game for Team USA. It's always harder beating a team a second time in a row.

One good thing about Team USA's spot in this tournament is that both Russia and Canada are on the lower part of the bracket meaning that one of them will be taken out by the other before they can reach Team USA in the tournament.

Either way, Team USA will most likely have to beat one of them if they want a silver or gold medal.

In the end the gap just wasn't as large as people originally thought between Canada and the USA in hockey. The Canadiens are better, but they're not on the same level as the 1980 Soviet team that everyone feared at the time.

Bracketology: Tennessee Edition

Last season was a great season for basketball programs from the great state of Tennessee. You had Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and East Tennessee State all make the NCAA Tournament.

Their most likely won't be that many team representing Tennessee this season, but there's still two teams that could do damage and that's No.19 Vanderbilt and No. 18 Tennessee.

In no way do I agree with Tennessee currently being ranked ahead of Vanderbilt in the rankings. Vandy has beaten them twice this season, including a double-digit win just a week ago.

Joe Lunardi is the expert when it comes to the science of bracketology and currently he has Vanderbilt as a No.4 seed and Tennessee as a No.5 seed.

I believe both seeds are a little generous considering the SEC is very weak once again. Vandy deserves no higher than a No. 5 seed thanks to some questionable losses against Cincinnati, Illinois, and Georgia.

Tennessee on the other hand should be no higher than No.7 seed as of right now. They've faired even worse in the SEC and their only impressive win of the season was against No.1 Kansas. Without that huge upset win then Tennessee would be even farther back for me.

The only other team representing the state right now in Lunardi's bracket is Belmont out of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Belmont always has a respectable program and many of you probably remember when they gave Duke that scare just a few years ago. Sadly enough they'll be another sacrificial lamb to the likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, etc.

You can't ever count Memphis out of the equation. They still have time to build on their resume with their current record sitting at 19-7. After looking over their remaining schedule it's very likely they could win-out the rest of the way and get into the field of 65.

Out of all of these teams Vanderbilt has the best shot at making a run in the tournament. They're balanced and well-coached. A Sweet 16 berth is probably the most you can realistically hope for, but in college basketball the impossible sometimes happens.

Current Resume's

1. Vanderbilt ( #5) Key Wins: Tennessee twice, @St. Mary's, Missouri
2. Tennessee (#7) Key Wins: Kansas, @Memphis
3. Memphis (#13) Key Wins: @Tulsa
   

Memo To Tiger: Your "Apology" Was a Load of Crap

Nothing like waking up to a robot like creature giving a speech on your television. Oh wait, how careless of me. That was Tiger Woods attempting to apologize for his actions that he displayed.

I'm sorry but when you wait three months to make a public statement and then follow that silence up with what seemed like an insincere apology that was well-rehearsed, then you're getting no sympathy from me.

There were times when Tiger would look blankly at the camera in front of him and then look back down at the podium to gather his next thought.

I'm no speech writing expert, but shouldn't you be able to give a heart-felt apology without the aid of a sheet of paper on a podium?

Here's the main issue I have with these formal public apologies that Tiger and many other athletes have given in the past. How do we know who actually wrote this apology? For all we know he could've hired a speech writer to handle the whole thing. He's certainly got the money for it.

And one more thing. Why didn't Tiger allow the media in the room to ask questions? I can probably answer that question already. Because he simply didn't want to handle the situation on his own. Instead he would rather say whatever he wants to say and be done with it. Many of the people in the room were hand picked by him.

Well that won't last for long once he decides to return to golf. The media will hound him with questions regarding this situation for years to come until he decides to man up to his actions and answer the questions that the public has.

Toward the end of his speech Tiger began to somewhat lash out at the media, and some of it was well deserved. The media has no right to drag his wife, Elin, or his two-year-old daughter into the middle of this. Tiger deserves all of the media scrutiny in the world, but not his family.

However, Tiger then brought the spotlight back onto his own selfishness by denying that he's ever done performance enhancing drugs.

What does that have to do with anything? Stop trying to make a case for yourself. You screwed up and now it's time to deal with it like a man, not like a puppet.

Vandy's Top Recruit Murdered at Georgia Home

Sad news is coming out of Powder Springs, Georgia today as Vanderbilt's 4-star recruit Rajaan Bennett was the victim of a murder-suicide in his own home.

I can't even begin to express how badly I feel for everyone involved in this gruesome situation. It just reminds me how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away.

In the grand scheme of things, sports are secondary to way more important things in life, like friends and family.

Bennett had just signed with one of the most prestigious schools in the country to play football for a program that is gradually on the rise. He was going to be the face of Vanderbilt football very quickly.

"Rajaan was an extraordinary young man and an ideal fit for Vanderbilt University," head coach Bobby Johnson said. "As we got to know Rajaan, it became very clear to our coaches that he was a better person than he was an athlete. He was a leader, a young man who gained the respect of the entire community at McEachern High School."

The key part in that statement is he was a better person than he was an athlete. That's no surprise to me considering Vanderbilt doesn't just recruit athletes based on what they can do on the football field.

There's no doubt in my mind that this young man was going to be a star in more ways than one in this world. He was going to Vanderbilt University, which is more than a lot of people can say in this world.

My heart truly hurts for his family right now and my prayers go out to them.

The Chances for Success for the Men's Hockey Team in Vancouver

The opening of the men's hockey is just minutes away with Team USA getting ready to take on Switzerland.

Many of the analysts, including ESPN's Barry Melrose, are calling this a good warm-up game for Team USA.

I guess we'll see about that.

The key to success for the U.S. is goalie Ryan Miller. Miller has a 93 percent save percentage which is good for 2nd in the NHL. If he can relay that success to the Olympics then the U.S. has a legitimate shot at a medal.

Another thing that plays in the favor of the U.S. is that they will be playing on an NHL-size rink, which is narrower than the European rinks. It means the play will be much more physical, but it should favor the North American teams more so than the European teams.

However, outside of a few players, the U.S. lacks star power on their team. All of stars that we have come to know in the NHL play for other countries. The best scoring threat we have is Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks. He has 28 goals this season and a plus/minus ratio of plus-18.

For all you casual hockey fans, that means when he's on the ice his team is outscoring the opposition by 18 goals. Pretty good odds if you ask me.

The biggest threat that Switzerland will throw at us will be goalie Jonas Hiller. He has a ton of talent and we'll see if that results in success for Switzerland.

The Predators have several players competing in the Olympics, but only one for the U.S. That player is Ryan Suter, who will be out there more for his defense than scoring goals.

By far the favorite to win the Olympics is Canada, who has some guy named Sidney Crosby suiting up for them. Hopefully you caught the sarcasm on that. But they have a ton of pressure on them playing in front of their home country.

Don't leave Russia out of the equation. They've got Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Ilya Kovalchuk. Expect a lot goals to be scored by this team.

The U.S. was unfortunate enough to be in the same group as Canada, along with Switzerland and Norway. A second-place finish in this group wouldn't be a disappointment at all.

Most likely a bronze medal is the most the U.S. can hope for, but we Americans love our underdog stories. Anything can happen in sports and that's why we watch and cheer for our teams.

USA! USA! USA!

Preds in the Olympics

1. Martin Erat (Czech Republic)
2. Ryan Suter (USA)
3. Shea Weber (Canada)
4. Patric Hornqvist (Sweden)
5. Marcel Goc (Germany)
6. Alexander Sulzer (Germany)

The All-Star Game Gets a Record Attendance

Over 108,000 people packed into the new Cowboys Stadium to see players like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant put on a show that was badly needed for the NBA.

I'm among the many people who are surprised as too how many people showed up for the All-Star game. We're talking about almost 100,000 more people showing up for this game than any other regular season game.

You also have to take into account the even the Dallas Cowboys couldn't get a crowd this large to one of their games, and football rules in Texas. It was the largest crowd recorded in this building's short history.

The NBA has a lot to be proud of after last night.

It makes you wonder that if all NBA arenas could fit this many people, or even half, could they fill them up?

Judging from the highlights the game's best definitely put on a good show for the fans. Especially Dwyane Wade who showed off not just his scoring abilities, but also his underrated passing abilities as he dished out 11 assists. He took home All-Star MVP honors.

As of recent years the winning conference has usually produced the eventual NBA champion and this year the East took it by two, 141-139.

Once again, mad props to the NBA for putting together a great weekend of entertainment. The NBA's All-Star weekend use to be the best of any sport and it looks to be climbing back up to the top once again.

All-Star Top Performers

• Dwyane Wade (MIA): 28 pts, 11 asst, 6 reb, 5 stl
• LeBron James (CLE): 25 pts, 6 asst, 5 reb
• Carmelo Anthony (DEN): 27 pts, 10 reb
• Chris Bosh (TOR): 23 pts, 10 reb
  

The Tar Heels Are Stuck in a Tailspin

For over a half of basketball last night it looked like the Tar Heels were going to pull themselves out of this tailspin and beat their arch-rivals.

That quickly changed when Duke showed just how much better they really are than the Tar Heels and put them away for good.

On the surface this shouldn't be such a surprise as the media in making it. Every great program goes through rebuilding phases and that time has finally approached for the Tar Heels. The shocking part about it is that the Tar Heels are one of those college basketball products that no one can really recall ever being a bad team.

To add insult to injury, Roy Williams is saying ill-advised things to the media that digs this program even deeper by drawing comparisons between a bad basketball season to the disaster in Haiti.

How was the topic of Haiti even brought up? I'm sure the future Hall of Fame coach will regret saying that really soon. It's comparing apples to oranges and is a slap in the face to all of the people affected by the horrible disaster in Haiti.

Now back to basketball. The Tar Heels can kiss their NCAA Tournament hopes goodbye unless they plan on running the table for the rest of the season, including the ACC Tournament. Yeah, I don't think so.

Well there's always the NIT, or the "Not In the Tournament" tournament. As bad as the Tar Heels look right now, they could probably still make a run for the NIT championship. That's how good this program is. Even with the one of the worst teams this program has ever had they can still compete for a postseason tournament championship.

If you're a Tar Heel fan then at this point you just have to be ready to put this season to rest and look forward to next season. Expect this to be a one-season slump. The Tar Heels will return to competing for the ACC championship again next season.

The talent-loaded roster will have a year more of experience along with another great recruiting class.

In other words, look at this season as a fluke.

Biggest 2010 Drop-Offs

1. North Carolina (13-11) Last season: 34-4 (Nat'l Champ)
2. Connecticut (14-10) Last season: 31-5 (Final Four)
3. Oklahoma (13-10) Last season: 30-6 (Elite Eight)
4. Western Kentucky (13-12) Last season: 25-9 (2nd Round)
   

Get the Brooms Out: Vandy Sweeps Away the Vols

Just when I was ready to say the Commodores didn't have the passion to pull out an SEC East title they go out and embarrass No. 12 Tennessee.

Of course my doubt was well deserved thanks to the thrashing that Vandy received from Georgia just a few days prior. That loss had me worried that this was the same Vandy team that shows a lot of promise, but falls up short.

Past Vandy teams would have probably came out and lost to the higher ranked Tennessee Vols after a disappointing loss, but apparently not this Vandy team.

Once again the Commodores proved that they can beat you from so many different angles. This time it was Jefferey Taylor's turn who went for a season-high 26 points.

The Commodores are third in the SEC in scoring offense and a lot of that can be attributed to their four players (Ogilvy, Beal, Taylor, and Jenkins) who have gone for 20 points in a game at least once this season. Three of those doing it on four different occasions.

This team doesn't have to rely on a single player game after game. Sure, the dominance of Jermaine Beal is gladly welcomed, but it's not a necessity. This team is balanced. As long as Beal continues to effectively run the offense then the scoring will come from a variety of places.

On Tuesday night the Commodores accomplished the first season sweep of the Vols since 2004 when Buzz Peterson was still the UT coach. Now granted the Commodores have still held their own even in the Bruce Pearl era.

All of the sudden the Commodores find themselves in a pretty comfortable place in the standings. If Tennessee goes out and defeats No. 2 Kentucky on Saturday night and Vandy pulls off a huge win against Kentucky at home, then you can say hello to first place once again for Vandy.

Now I'm assuming Vandy takes care of business and puts down the inferior LSU Tigers who have three walk-ons as starters.

This scenario is not crazy to think about. We know Kentucky is full of talented players, but more importantly young players who are capable of critical mistakes. Tennessee is still a solid team led by a solid coach.

And to address the second part of that scenario, we all know how tough Vandy is to beat at home with that Memorial magic working.

There's still a ton of track left in the race to the SEC East title. All Vandy needs is a single break in stride by Kentucky.

Signing Jordan Rodgers Tops Off Great Recruiting Class for the Commodores

Vandy may be coming over a horrible 2-10 season, but that didn't sway junior college transfer Jordan Rodgers from attending one of the most prestigious schools in the Southeast.

If Rodgers has anywhere close to the talent that his older brother, and Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers has then the Commodores have an excellent shot at another bowl berth in the upcoming season.

Jordan Rodgers has a great frame for a quarterback as he stands at 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 210 pounds. He was given a three-star rating by Rivals.com, which isn't bad at all for a program with such strict academic standards.

This is a huge signing for more ways than one, but the primary reason is because the rest of the SEC also had great signing days and Vanderbilt has to at least partially keep pace.

Current starting quarterback Larry Smith should definitely be prepared to fight for his starting position because Rodgers brings an impressive resume with him from Butte Community College in California.

Rodgers broke single-season records at Butte Community College, which is very impressive considering Aaron Rodgers also attended Butte Community College before attending the University of California.

Now you may be wary of a guy who is transferring from a junior college, but let me remind you why he chose this path. He wasn't arrogant at all when left high school despite obviously coming from a great gene pool. Instead he realized that his body and his skills still had a lot of improving to do before he was ready to play for an FBS school.

I'm sure Vanderbilt will gladly take the improved product over the one that needs a lot of work.

This guy seems like he has the right head on his shoulders. He said that one reason he chose Vanderbilt was getting an opportunity to play in the SEC, which offers the best competition to an offensive player.

He also cited the great academic standards for why he chose Vanderbilt. That tells me he's got his head in the right place.

It also didn't hurt that Jay Cutler put in a good word for his alma mater to Rodgers.

There were other offers on the table for Rodgers with the biggest one being from Kansas, and yet he was turned down after the Kansas coaching change. Hopefully it'll be their loss and Vandy's gain.

There's definitely no denying that Vanderbilt is growing into a school that shouldn't just be respected for its academics, but also for its athletic programs as well.

The Saints Win Super Bowl XLIV Thanks to Several Factors

People have been asking "Who Dat?" all season, but I think that question has finally been answered.

The Saints took home their first Super Bowl title in their 43-year history by picking apart the Colts defense five yards at a time, and then sticking the dagger into the Colts' side with the interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Even though most experts were wrong on their selection of the Colts to win this one, it still turned out to be an extremely close game.

If Matt Stover had made the 51-yard field goal, and if Peyton Manning wouldn't have suddenly turned into a rookie quarterback, then you're looking at the Colts having a chance to get the game-winning touchdown on that final drive.

You can't take anything away from the Saints. They played like champions during the entire postseason and for most of the regular season.

Drew Brees solidified himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the league and now a whole region that has been through so much can begin their victory celebration.

On the flip side, maybe Peyton Manning isn't hands down the best quarterback in the league. He still only has one Super Bowl ring which is less than the likes of Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. He's also an average 9-9 in the postseason for his career.

Manning still had a decent game, but it wasn't worthy of any kind of praise. There were numerous throws that Manning made where you just scratched your head wondering who he was throwing to. That's not the Peyton Manning we're used to, but he'll bounce back and return to form next season.

Finally, it's time to give some props to some individuals that aren't Drew Brees. Head coach Sean Payton deserves a ton of respect for bringing a great game plan against the Colts. He nickled and dimed them all night long and the Colts defense eventually wore down.

Oh yeah, and of course the infamous onside kick to steal any kind of momentum that the Colts may have gained by getting the ball first. You know Manning's blood pressure had to sky rocket after he realized he had to turn back around and sit his behind back on the bench.

Next you have to give credit to the 23-year-old Saints kicker Garrett Hartley. This guy wasn't even on the team the entire season and yet he came in and sank three critical field goals. If he would've missed just one of those field goals then the momentum could have drastically altered. I

Instead he became the first ever kicker to kick make three 40-plus yard field goals in a Super Bowl. In a year that was littered with bad kicking performances, this performance is one to remember for all the right reasons.

You didn't think I would forget about Tracy Porter did you? This guy made one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history by stepping in front of Reggie Wayne for a pick-six that iced the game for the Saints. That one single play he made put all kind of doubt in the minds of people who were ready to kiss Manning's feet just seconds earlier.

It's so hard to put the meaning of this game into perspective but Commissioner Roger Goodell said it best: "The hopes, the dreams and the struggles of that community were all reflected in that football team. It was a great night for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region."

Commodores Finally Getting Use To That Top 25 Ranking

It took a while for the Commodores to play like a Top 25 team. They're now number 18 in the Associated Press poll and number 20 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

Vandy had been in the Top 25 twice before breaking back into the Top 25 a couple of weeks ago. Both times they played as a ranked team they lost. One of those losses was to Cincinnati and the other was on the road to Illinois.

Now the Commodores (17-4, 6-1 SEC) finally seem to be playing like they deserve to be ranked. The Commodores have won 11 of their last 12 with the only loss coming at Kentucky.

It's pretty much locked up that the Commodores will make another trip to the Big Dance, which has been pretty normal over the past ten years.

As of right now ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Commodores projected as a No.4 seed. I'm not sure if I would go that far but they're definitely a team that can make a Sweet Sixteen run in March.

I've said this all year and I'll say it again. The Commodores are extremely balanced and any coach in the country would kill to have as many weapons as Kevin Stallings has to play with.

The key to this team is that there's really no "go-to" guy outside of Jermaine Beal. They all have had their off nights this season, but there's always been one or two other players to pick up the slack.

That's one of the key ingredients to success. Up next for the Commodores is a trip to Athens to take on SEC cellar dweller Georgia.

Top 3 Commodores

1. Jermaine Beal- 14 ppg, 3 apg
2. Jeffery Taylor- 13.9 ppg, 5 rpg
3. A.J. Ogilvy- 13.8 ppg, 6 rpg

Needs Improvement

1. Steve Tchiengang- 3.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg
2. Brad Tinsley- 42% FG, 2.3 turnovers/gm
   

John Wall Hits His First Wall to His Young Career

It didn't take long for freshman John Wall to end up in the media for something bad. The weird part is that this whole incident occurred after a huge win against Vanderbilt for sole possession of first place in the SEC East.

Wall said to the media Saturday that "I just try not to listen to him (Calipari) and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win".

Those are pretty tough words coming from a freshman who is coached by one of the best in the game. He eventually ate his own word a couple days later and now everything seems to be put in the past. Calipari handled it in the best way possible and is ready to move on.

Apparently what started this whole fiasco was the fact that Calipari criticized Wall for his play in their loss to South Carolina earlier in the week. Wall thought that he didn't play that bad and being criticized upset him.

Wall can't let all of this media hype about him being one of the best players in the country get to his head. He's not a LeBron James and he still has a lot to prove before he can ever think about having the right to question his coach publicly like that.

This might be a window into the future of how Wall may conduct himself for the rest of his basketball career. Could he just end up being another drama queen to join the sports world? Let's hope not because we have plenty of those already.

It's definitely not a good sign considering the circumstances it came out of. It's not like Kentucky is in last place and under media scrutiny. We're talking about a team that is widely recognized as a National Championship contender.

A fluke loss to South Carolina is the only thing keeping this team from being undefeated. They didn't even lose to the Gamecocks. They lost to Devon Downey and his freakish athletic talent.

Wall will still be snatched up in a heart beat whenever he enters the draft but I'm sure some NBA scouts will think twice about adding him to their roster after this little tantrum he just threw.

Here Comes Another Arena Football League

After the AFL folded just a year ago, another entity is going to take a crack at arena football. The new league will be called Arena Football One and will debut in April of this year.

All of the assets were bought from the old AFL for a reported $6.1 million. That number seems high for a league that got little attention, but we're talking about an entire league and when you think about it that way it actually seems pretty cheap.

The team names, logos, and records will all transfer over to the new league.

I was sad to see the league go because it satisfied my hunger for football just enough to get me to the NFL season in August. However, sometimes the quality of play was very sloppy and not so exciting.

I'm very skeptical about how Arena Football One is going to any more successful than the AFL was over the years.

Now it's unfair to say that the AFL was a total failure because the league was around for over 20 years in a country that is ruled by the NFL.

This new league will feature 15 teams and four divisions with team spanning from Chicago to Spokane, Washington. It's great to get some of the smaller markets involved that don't get the opportunity to get teams from the major sports leagues.

It's baffling me a little bit as to why you would put a team in Jacksonville? We're talking about a city that can't even sell out their NFL team's games much less an arena football team.

Time will tell soon enough whether this league will do any better than the previous league. As a sports fan I'm definitely pulling for Arena Football One because you can never have too many sports out there.

Conference Alignment

American Conference: Alabama, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Shreveport, Dallas, Okla. City, and Tulsa.

Northern Conference: Chicago, Cleveland, Iowa, Milwaukee, Arizona, Spokane, and Utah.