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Super Duper Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens...winners of Super Bowl 47. Thank goodness the 49ers made it interesting in the 2nd half, because between the power outage and a lame batch of commercials, it was looking like a snoozer. Speaking of commercials, my two favorite spots were the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial along with the Paul Harvey / Dodge Farmer ad. Those two were outstanding. As they continue to party in Baltimore, I wonder how John Fox and Peyton Manning were feeling watching that game? Denver had no business losing their playoff game to the Ravens, but that's what happens when teams are destined for greatness. I know Niner fans, players and coaches will gripe about the no-call in the end zone, and it was a blown call. But when you play 60 minutes you gotta make plays, and the Ravens never trailed. Ray Lewis goes out in style and John Harbaugh gets the ultimate family bragging rights. The Baltimore Ravens win the Ryan Kalil Carolina Panthers' 2013 Championship. And for the city of San Francisco, don't fret....the World Champion SF Giants pitchers and catchers report in a few days. The NCAA Tourney is going to be crazy. The last couple of weekends, the Top 25 teams dropped like flies. This past weekend, 9 ranked teams lost...including four clubs in the Top 10. Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse and Oregon all lost...and really with the exception of the KU Jayhawks going down at home, none of the outcomes were surprising. Take your pick for the top team....this week, you could select Indiana or even Florida. It really doesn't matter. I truly believe that not only are we without a dominant team in college hoops, but we also have a lack of #1 seeds. What we do have is a dozen #2 seeds. There isn't a team that is good enough to really claim the top ranking, but I deliver to you at least a dozen teams that are solid #2 seeds that can win it all: Indiana, Florida, Duke, Michigan, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, Gonzaga, Butler, Miami, Ohio State and Louisville, just to name a dozen teams off the top of my head. There's probably another half dozen teams that are capable of getting hot and joining the mix for a chance to cut down the nets in Atlanta. As I keep mentioning on my SiriusXM show, the quality of college hoops is way down thanks to the 1-and-Done rule, but the amount of competitive games is off the charts since there is so much mediocrity and parity in the game. That combination will lead to a fascinating March Madness.....nothing should surprise you at this point in time. This is a big week for NC State. The Wolfpack was the talk of the ACC before the hoops season started. Mark Gottfried had a ton of returning talent from a team that made a deep run in the Big Dance a year ago. For the first time in decades, the Pack was picked by the media to be the team to beat in the conference. State fans were feeling good...forget about Duke and North Carolina; this was the year they have been waiting for...the NC State Wolfpack were in position to return to the top of not only Tobacco Road, but the entire league. This week, the team has a pair of road games....at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium and at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum. Neither one will be friendly or easy. The Wolfpack has lost four of their last six games, including a heart-breaker at home this past weekend to the surprisingly good Miami Hurricanes. The loss dropped the team to 5-4 in ACC play....that's four games behind Miami in the loss column. If State is going to be as good as advertised, a sweep this week on the road is mandatory. I'm sure the Blue Devils remember the loss in Raleigh a few weeks ago, and they are coming off a really impressive road win against FSU. It's time to get down to business in Raleigh. If State is truly going to be a national player, it's time to start winning close games and figuring out a way to close the deal on the road. It's great to beat Duke and UNC at home....but those games count just as much as losing close games on the road to Maryland, Virginia and Wake Forest. The ball is in the Wolfpack's court...it will be fascinating to see how they handle the rock this week. Wednesday is National Signing Day.....and it's one of my favorite days on the sports calendar. I don't waste time worrying about recruiting....and I do understand that recruiting is vitally important to every program, regardless of sport. It amazes me how the recruiting geeks spend countless hours of the day following up and listing the desires of teenage boys; in some respects it's disturbing, but it is the crazy world that we live in these days. What is goofier is the number of people that will have their day ruined by a teenager that changes his mind at the last second to attend Bama instead of FSU or Auburn or Texas. Or how about the guy that will be depressed until the Spring Game because his school didn't land a Top 5 recruiting class because some guy in a cubicle with a website says so....hilarious. Recruiting rankings are as useful as last week's losing lottery ticket. Without lifting a finger, I'm going to say that Bama, Florida, LSU, Ohio State and Notre Dame will be highly ranked. The rich get richer....but you'll find out in a few years which kids will live up to the hype and which ones are busts. I love listening to the fans lose it over the decisions of these high school kids...Wednesday will be a blast, on the air. Be sure to catch all the National Signing Day action on SiriusXM 91. |
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