NFL Divisional Predictions

I know we recently switched over to J. Greer Weighs in on Hoops. But you know what, this site used to be J. Greer Weighs in on Sports.

So, after some clamoring from the masses, let's see my ridiculous picks for the rest of the NFL playoffs.

Steelers beat the Chargers
No shock here. San Diego played well last week, so the Chargers should struggle this week. I mean, that's how you get to 8-8, right? Darren Sproles will give the Steelers D some fits, but I like Pittsburgh at home. I'll say ... Pittsburgh 27, San Diego 17

Titans beat the Ravens
Yeah, I said it. I am one of the few people left in America (outside of Tennessee anyway) who actually thinks the Titans are the team to beat in the AFC. The Ravens are great, but I think their ride stops here. The upset is coming in the other conference ... Tennessee 17, Baltimore 14

Giants beat the Eagles
I love the Eagles. They are clearly a good team. But New York is the best team in the NFL. And the Eagles don't have to just stop one and a half running backs this week and a terrible QB, they have to stop three good RBs and a mediocre QB. Much harder. New York 20, Philly 17

Cardinals beat the Panthers
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Really? Arizona 34, Carolina 24

... but what do I know?

What's Going On?

College hoops tidbits from around the Internet ...

ESPN can't stop pimping it's much-ballyhooed "swap" of announcers, with Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman calling an NBA game and Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Tirico calling Davidson at Duke. Snooze.

CBS, though, has a projecting the field and projecting the seeds feature up today. Always enjoyable for those who are into that stuff ... ya know, like me ...

SI.com's Luke Winn looks at contenders and pretenders.

Rivals has new position and coaching rankings up.

And I already brought you the deliciousness. And no, that is not a photo of Wayne Gretzky. Read the damn post.

The SEC West's Best

Scary, isn't he? That's John Pelphrey, coach of Arkansas. His team is scary, too.

Last night, for the second time in a week, the Razorbacks gored a top-10 Big 12 team. That's right -- Arkansas. Ya know, the team picked by SEC media to finish last in the atrocious SEC West. It made sense at the time -- Arkansas only had three players with any college basketball experience. But this is a top-2o recruiting class working its tail off for Pelphrey.

And these are the results.

Arkansas is 12-1, with wins over the two best teams in the Big 12. The Razorbacks' only loss came at Missouri State, a 62-57 travesty that saw Pelphrey's cagers turn the ball over 17 times. But we're all entitled to an embarrassing loss, right? Especially if you can rebound with a 10-game winning streak and a pair of monumental upsets.

So, Arkansas, join the ranks of Boston College in the college hoops parthenon. You are deserving. Oklahoma and Texas are good. Both teams have a legitimate shot at stealing a 1 seed in March. And you have wins against both of 'em. Both!

Get used to the names Michael Washington and Courtney Fortson. Washington, a junior, has emerged as the BMOC at Arkansas, averaging 18 and 10. The freshman point guard Fortson is a nigthly triple-double threat, posting 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds a night. That's an inside-outside combo, my friends.

The SEC West has a new frontrunner. And the Top 25 won't be the best 25 teams in the nation if Arkansas isn't on there next week.

Elsewhere
-- Clemson is good. The Tigers are 15-0 after a win against Alabama. Why does Clemson start so hot every year?

-- So, remember last night when I said there were two ranked teams playing each other every night in the Big East? Well, this is what reminded me of it. A huge win for UConn at West Virginia. And Villanova does itself well, too, with a win against Seton Hall.

-- And, oh yeah, Purdue is 0-2 to start Big Ten play. Yikes. Really, though, you lost to Penn State. Doesn't that automatically disqualify you from the NCAA Tournament?

-- You know what? College football is stupid. There, I said it. This is why I'm a hoops guy. One game in the regular season doesn't determine your fate if you are a good enough team to rebound. And you decide your national champion with a grueling three-week tournament that, by the end of March, weeds out most, if not all, of the riff-raff. Oh, yeah, and the tournament actually decides on a champion. Why wouldn't someone want to see USC, Utah, Texas and the winner of Oklahoma-Florida in a playoff? Why can't we separate them into an eight-team playoff and add three other teams? God, even the overtimes are stupid. [/rant]

-- If I could, I'd like to recommend Seth Davis. He's always a good read. Also, check out his book, When March Went Mad. Not sure when it comes out officially, but I'm rolling through an advance copy now. Very good if you like sports. And SI.com's Luke Winn is good, too, even if he is stealing my blog post from months ago.

-- Movies you should see: Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler and Bond. Make it happen, people.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Buckeye

Ohio State jumped way up the polls early in this 08-09 campaign. In fact, the Buckeyes, after starting 8-0, reached No. 15 in the AP poll and 13 in the Coaches' Poll. All the recognition came after Thad Matta's guys dropped Notre Dame and Miami in back-to-back upsets.

Then, Ohio State edged now-ranked Butler and pushed a few bad teams down.

8-0.

Easy as that.

Then, the Bucks were throttled by visiting West Virginia.

A nice win against a very good defensive team in Iowa came next, but that was briefly enjoyed, because Minnesota dispatched OSU three days later.

Michigan State dropped OSU in similar fashion -- resoundingly.

So, Ohio State -- true contender or just a pretender?

Not an easy question to answer. I think the Buckeyes can be a Tournament team. They have the talent, albeit young, to make some noise in the Big Ten. But the question is, how many times can the other good teams in the conference thump them before the Buckeyes fold up and mail in the rest of the season?

Oh, and p.s., every night this winter will have two ranked Big East teams playing each other. Sure seems like it, doesn't it?

Going Gody

Luke Harangody had 31 points and 11 rebounds in Notre Dame's back-from-the-dead home win against Georgetown. Harangody put together a gutsy performance despite committing his fourth foul with 15 minutes or so left in the game.

Georgetown, which started off the Big East season in fashion, beating UConn on the road, is 1-2 to start the season. That's just how the Big East is going to go this year. The Hoyas started the season with games at UConn, home against Pitt and at Notre Dame. Big East coaches picked those three teams plus Louisville to challenge for a league title. Georgetown getting a win out of that stretch is actually a positive result, despite not winning at home.

Lots of other tidbits
-- I asked a lot of questions this weekend about an area called Western Sahara in Africa. It's a territory of Morocco's and it is giant. I always see it on a map and wonder about it. Today, I finally looked it up. Who knew it would have a city the size of Yonkers?

-- Bracketology is up and Pitt is the overall No. 1 seed. Enjoy it while it lasts, folks.

-- And while we're on the topic, people are pretty excited about Pitt being No. 1 in the nation.

-- Good work, Yale.

-- Just a quick thought for Pitt football fans: If you want to point the finger, point it at Matt Cavanaugh. Every year that Pitt struggles, it's his fault. Terrible play-calling and awful tutelage of his quarterbacks. Bill Stull stunk it up against Oregon State and Pitt didn't run the ball enough. Plus, Stull is not Michael Jordan: He can't shoot through a slump. If the dude can't complete a swing pass out of the backfield, why throw it 25 times? Why keep him in the game? By the way, that was the worst bowl game I've ever seen.

-- Interesting situation developing in Boston over BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Dude will be fired if he interviews with the Jets.

-- Oh, and by the way, the Big East has nine ranked teams. Nine.

New Top Dogs Are Top Cats

Levance Fields and company are No. 1 in the nation for the first time in Pitt school history. A 70-54 thumping of Georgetown paired with North Carolina's loss last night helped the Panthers zoom past former Nos. 1 and 2 UNC and UConn.

The Washout in Washington has also moved Pitt to my top spot in the first power rankings of 2009.

1. Pitt -- A dominating win at Georgetown after the Hoyas had crushed UConn in the same week means the Panthers are the top team in the land right now.

2. UNC -- The Tar Heels will still be the team to beat going forward, but the ACC-opening loss to BC means there may be more chinks in UNC's armor than previously thought. I don't remember listing BC as a team that can beat Carolina.

3. Duke -- The Blue Devils took care of business this week and move past Big East power UConn and Big 12 favorite Oklahoma.

4. Wake Forest -- Suddenly the ACC has three Final Four contenders. While the league isn't nearly as tough top-to-bottom as the Big East, the top three teams are clearly as good as anyone.

5. Georgetown -- The Hoyas annihilated UConn -- in Hartford. Things don't get any easier for Georgetown as it travels to Notre Dame tonight.

6. UConn -- Jim Calhoun's crew is still tough to beat. In fact, I still believe the Huskies are the best suited to beat UNC in March. For now, UConn will have to continue recovering from the loss and hope for revenge against other top clubs.

7. Oklahoma -- The Sooners were getting crushed by Arkansas before Willie Warren willed them back into the game, forging a more respectable eight-point loss.

8. Syracuse -- Hard to get past allowing a kid who hit a woman play.

9. Texas -- The Longhorns have lost some of their luster with a pair of losses, but conference play will be kind to them.

10. UCLA -- And look who's back. The Bruins are tough if they can score easier, and right now, they're working back to that.

11. Michigan State -- It's been a long trip back to the power rankings for the Spartans, but a whole slew of teams losing helped Sparty come back.

12. Clemson -- I don't think the Tigers are legit until they play UNC, Duke or Wake Forest -- and either keep it really close or actually beat them.

13. Marquette -- Undersized? Yes. New coach? Yes. But this is still a tough, tough team. If Buzz Williams's boys can start gutting out wins on the road like they did at NC State, they could jump higher.

14. West Virginia -- No one in the Big East is playing more dominant basketball than the Mountaineers.

15. Boston College -- It's a big jump, yeah. But BC is 13-2 and has a win against UNC. What else do you want?

16. Purdue -- It's tough to lose a conference game at home. But I still like the Boilermakers.

17. Minnesota -- The Gophers came back from a tough loss to Michigan State with a strong win against Ohio State.

18. Butler -- A three-point loss to Ohio State is the only blemish on the always-solid Bulldogs.

19. UNLV -- The Runnin' Rebels only have two losses -- Cal and Cincinnati. And a win at Louisville plus an eight-game winning streak means I can no longer ignore them.

20. Davidson -- I still like this club. Now that the Wildcats are in conference play, don't expect many, if any, losses.

Morning Update

I've got a column up over at MVN Sports this morning. Power rankings will go up in a little while.