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.