Because it's March we are placing a special emphasis on College Basketball. So here's our Regular Season Awards.

ACCPlayer of the Year- Tyler Hansbrough, UNCCoach of the Year- Frank Haith, MiamiFreshman of the Year- James Johnson, Wake Forest
Big 12Player of the Year- Michael Beasley- KSUCoach of the Year- Scott Drew, BaylorFreshman of the Year- Michael Beasley- KSU
Big EastPlayer of the Year- Luke Harangody, Notre DameCoach of the Year- Jim Calhoun, UConnFreshman of the Year- Donte Green, Syracuse

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By Stefan Ming

Predicted Order of Finish:

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Predicted Order of Finish:
EAST
1. Tennesse Volunteers
I love Bruce Pearl and his painted chest. He's had this program on the rise for the last few years and this is their year to take it from the Gators. Vols return four starters and eight letter winners to a team poised to make a move. Pearl has experience and depth and the East is theirs to lose.
2. Vanderbilt Commadores

Time to talk some NBA Draft and my thoughts on who should stay and who should leave. (This isn't a prediction on who will leave and stay, it's what I think they should do).

Let's start with the national champions:

Kansas Jayhawks
Brandon Rush
Rush was solid this season, he showed that his injury didn't slow him one bit. He improved his slashing ability that many draft experts we're saying was his big weakness. He has great size for an NBA SG. Plus, he won a national title. He's a lock for the first round.
Decision: Leave

Darrell Arthur
Arthur has a boat load of potential and the sky is pretty much the limit for this kid. He needs to bulk up a little bit more to become a good NBA player. Must also improve his FT shooting and his foul trouble.
Decision: Leave

Mario Chalmers

O.J Mayo and Michael Beasley are two of the best freshman playing college basketball this season. Both players are averaging over 20 points per contest, and both decided not to go to the elite basketball programs like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas or Indiana. Despite how much game these future NBA All-Stars have, both Mayo and Beasley are having a hard time getting to the big dance next month. They both are seeing that basketball is a team game, and neither of these guys have the supporting cast to carry them into the field of 65. So they have to carry their teams themselves. Beasley looked like his Wildcats had all but wrapped up an at large bid. However they are back on the bubble again after losing four out of the last five games including losses to Nebraska and Texas Tech. USC has won two straight since losing at home to arch rival UCLA, but still is looking for another good win to put on their resume. They beat UCLA at UCLA earlier in January, but that is their only good win. Losses to Mercer and California are the only real blemishes on their resume.

We all know the 2007-2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Season just finished. But there are a lot of us anticipating next season already. With a lot of young talent out there this past season, next year should be just as exciting!
Let's take a look at some of the top teams for 2008-2009:
UNC Tar Heels
Even though they could still lose Tyler Hansbrough, Tywon Lawson, and Wayne Ellington to the NBA, I really doubt they will all leave; one will be the most that leaves, even if that. Hansbrough will likely be back and Lawson's stock is down. Even if Lawson bolts injured PG Bobby Frasor is back and Danny Green is a very capable player as well. They only lose Quentin Thomas for sure and Deon Thompson and Alex Stephenson will be good as well.
UCLA Bruins

River Borowitz-Jacobs has a long name, but she's short for a basketball player. Still, because she plays in the same gym where Emily Hargraves, WNBA's Most Valuable Player, learned the sport, she dreams of someday growing into a star. When River learns that the MVP of the playoffs in her league will get a scholarship to Emily's summer basketball camp, she knows she has to make the A-Team and catch Hargraves' eye.

When I first heard that Pete Carroll was interested in talking to Arthur Blank about the coaching position for the Atlanta Falcons, I thought it was a joke. I mean you can't be serious right? Carroll wouldn't leave the dynasty he built in Southern California to go coach a disaster that is the Atlanta Falcons right? I understand an opportunity to coach a NFL team is a chance that doesn't come every day, but Carroll seems to have a pretty good job in California. He basically has a NFL team out their in California, especially since L.A hasn't had an NFL team since the Rams left for St. Louis.

It's March Madness time. We have about one week left for the major conferences before the conference tourney's start. Then March 15 it is Selection Sunday. And finally the Thursday of that week is the start of the NCAA Tournament! Boy I can't wait!

So to get you ready for March Madness, I will highlight some games to watch for the remainder of the season that will effect the tournament and show you some great videos to pump you up for the tourney.

Games to keep an Eye on:

March 2
Indiana at Michigan St.
UCLA at Arizona
Villanova at Louisville

March 4
Nebraska at Texas
Arkansas at Mississippi

March 5
Tennessee at Florida
Oklahoma at Oklahoma St.
Texas A&M at Baylor

March 6
Xavier at St. Joseph's
Stanford at UCLA
Arizona St. at Oregon

March 8
Louisville art Georgetown
UAB at Memphis
Stanford at USC
Marquette at Syracuse
North Carolina at Duke

March 9
Michigan St. at Ohio St.
Oklahoma St. at Texas

2007 NCAA Tournament Memories and Highlights

The NCAA Tournament is about a month away and I absolutely cannot wait. Here's our current projections of the top 4 seeds and conference winners.

1 Seeds
Memphis- Should easily be a 1 seed with the C-USA schedule
UNC- I think they'll prevail, once Lawson is back and to full strength they should just about win out and win the ACC Tourney
UCLA- they will win the Pac 10 tourney which should secure the 1 seed
Tennessee- the SEC is down this year and no one is really posing that much of a threat to them

2 Seeds
Kansas- should be a 1 seed, but Texas or A&M could easily knock them off in the Big XII tourney
Duke- I see them losing to UNC and possibly in the ACC Tourney
Georgetown- still have to play Louisville, Marquette, and UConn but two of them are at home. I see them at least making the Big East Tourney Final
Texas- playing as good as anyone now but tough schedule coming up

3 Seeds
Butler- Could easily win out but being a mid-major and easy schedule won't get them a 2 seed

Alabama takes recruiting title with late additions

The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the day with one of the top recruiting classes and ended up surpassing the Florida Gators, who was predicted to finish with the top class for the 3rd straight year. The Tide added some big time uncommited players early, landing the top WR in the country in Julio Jones. Bama overall signed 3 five star players, 17 four players, and 10 three star players, and 6 top 100 players overall. Some key players that they signed from that could contribute from the get go could be: WR Julio Jones, LB Jerrell Harris, WR Chris Jackson, LB Mark Barron, OT Tyler Love, and DE Courtney Upshaw.

Alabama landed one of their best classes on paper in years. You'd have to think it's obviously because of Nick Saban. For any coach in their first year, this is a tremendous class. Saban did a great job of landing the top in-state recruits, which is something Alabama hasn't been able to do in recent years.

It's time for our first rankings of the season for College Hoops.
1.(Tie) Memphis & Kansas
It is still tough to tell who is the clear-cut number one. Both Memphis and KU are very similar in many ways. They both play the same type of game, fast paced and rely on their speed and athleticism. Both have some great wins with Memphis beating Georgetown, USC, Arizona, and Gonzaga and KU topping Arizona and USC. Memphis may have a few bigger wins but the Big XII schedule evens it out for Kansas. We may not know who is the "true" number one until one of these team loses or maybe not until they meet in the NCAA Tournament.

3. North Carolina

Things are going to look a little different next year behind the bench of Canada’s national junior squad. When Team Canada takes to the ice in Ottawa next Christmas, the familiar face and voice of Craig Hartsburg won’t be there.

Nor will assistant coaches Clement Jodoin and Curtis Hunt be in their normal locations either, as Team Canada prepares for a whole new cast of on ice supervisors.

The three bench strategists for Canada’s Junior program declined to have their names left in consideration for the next Canadian quest for gold. Feeling that the time had come for some new faces and new ideas behind the Canadian bench, Hartsburg and his assistants felt the time was right to step aside.

Hartsburg leaves the program with a fairly impressive record of three straight gold medals, starting his stint as Brent Sutter’s assistant at the 2006 championship in Vancouver and wrapping up this past Christmas season in the Czech Republic, his second gold medal as the head man.

1. Chicago Bulls - Derrick Rose (PG - Memphis)
Really I think that Beasley is the best fit for the Bulls since then need a low-post scorer. However, Rose is simply the best player in the draft and the Bulls will take the best available. Plus he's a Chicago-native so he'll draw in a crowd.

2. Miami Heat - Michael Beasley (PF - Kansas State)
Wow, what a catch at #2! Who won't pack the house to see the high-flying trio of Marion, Beasley, and Wade! Beasley will no doubt bring the Heat back to the post-season in the East. However, don’t sleep on the possibility of Riles dealing the pick down for a couple of quality players.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves - O.J. Mayo (PG - USC)
Although some skeptics have him dropping as of late, we are still high on O.J. This cat has amazing size and athletic abilities for a point guard. He’s NBA ready. Although the Twolves currently have quite a few PGs he is more of a scoring PG and would suit big Al Jefferson's skill set perfectly!

It's Gopher week here on NDSU's Campus. The fans, students, university, and especially the players have been waiting a year for their revenge on the Minnesota Gophers, after the heartbreaking 10-9 loss last season.

The NDSU Bison are currently ranked 1 in the FCS National Rankings and are looking for more votes and possibly, just possibly some FBS votes as well when they beat the Minnesota Gophers this upcoming Saturday.

The University of Arizona has produced some talented and top point guards the last decade or so, with some of them moving onto the NBA and some just looking to get their careers started.

It is pretty unbelievable how many great point guards have come through this program. It all started in 1991 with Khalid Reeves who went on to play 6 successful seasons in the NBA for the Heat, Hornets, Nets, Mavs, Pistons, and Bulls.

The very next season in 1992, Damon Stoudamire came along. Every one knows about the short lefty who's been playing in the NBA forever. He helped take the Blazers to numerous playoff runs and a few Western Conference Final Runs. Stoudamire is still in the NBA to this day, playing for the Grizzlies.

East

Atlantic1. Boston CelticsYeah, so have you heard of the new and improved Celtics? They are now a team that has 3 superstars and should lead them deep into the playoffs. Those 3 are Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. They're mixed with veterans and young talent, but the PG position could be a problem; Can Rajon Rondo handle the job of being the point man everyday in this league?

A recurrent discussion, provoked especially by Brian Tamanaha in this venue, has involved explanations of judicial behavior. Many political scientists view judges as simply "politicians in robes" who vote to implement their preferred views on public policies. Many law professors believe that judges operate within what Ronald Dworkin termed "the forum of principle." One might, of course, argue, as Jack and I have, that judges can be explained by reference to their "high politics," which is distinguishable from a "lower" kind of politics that focuses, for example, on helping out one's own political party.

Although I'm exhausted from a busy day of sports. I'm going to give you some quick thoughts on what I saw today before I hit the sack.

-Upsets galore in Tampa Bay kept me entertained all day. I love march madness!
-The biggest surprise to me was how Sienna beat Vanderbilt. I did not see that coming, especially in the way that it happened.
-I was so impressed with Tyrone Brazelton's intelligent play under pressure. Not only did he turn in a great game with 33 points, but I was most impressed by how he got the ball up the floor quickly and made the smart pass back to the inbound man for the buzzerbeater. I felt bad for Drake. They had a dream season this year. But after seeing that I didn't even mind my bracket being busted!
-Sir Alexander Ovechkin is a really good player. It is still amazing to me how a team can be so bad that they have a player score 60 goals in one year and still be fighting for the 8th and final playoff spot in the NHL.
- I love the WKU Hilltopper mascot (The Red dot)

Just thought I would do a brief post on some College Football and thoughts on the favorites for next season.


Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia was very young and inexperienced last season. They return a boatload of talent. After a very impressive season winning the Sugar Bowl, they are just that much more experienced. QB Matthew Stafford returns and is looking to be not only one of the top QBs in the SEC, but one of the best in the nation. RB Knowshon Moreno also returns after a big year rushing for 1334 yards and 14 TDs.

USC Trojans
USC loses some key players, but returns some important impact players; more specifically on the defensive side. Many were expecting LBs Keith Rivers and Rey Mauluga to enter the draft but now they're back. They return 3 starters in the secondary and the QB position is deep with Mitch Mustain transferring in. They will also be very deep at tailback once again. Watch out for RB Joe McKnight.
Florida Gators

College Football

We are less than six days away from Selection Sunday where 65 teams will get a ticket to the biggest tournament in sports. However those teams on the bubble have one last chance to make their case for one of those 65 spots. Here are five teams that need a good showing in their conference tournament in order to have a good chance of getting their ticket punched on Sunday.

First of all, Michigan did not lose to Appalachian State. The Mountaineers beat Michigan, let's get that straight. Was it a huge upset? Sure it was. It was the first time a non Division 1 team has ever beaten one of the Top 20 ranked NCAA Football Teams. People that claim that it was the biggest upset in sports history just don't understand how good the Appalachian State football program has become.

When I was just a wee tot, my mom taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. Then, after almost 20 years of silence, she begged me to start talking again. Which is great, because I have a lot of not-so-nice things to say about the NBA's Eastern Conference.

Atlanta Hawks: I have never forgiven the Hawks for trading Dominique Wilkins to the Clippers in '94. And neither has God. That's like sending your favorite grandfather to the nursing home where they serve cat food and administer nightly beatings. Some people might think that the last decade worth of losing seasons was enough of a punishment, but I don't. And neither does God.

Back in July I did a post on "Freshman of '07". I stated Eric Berry, freshman FS for Tennessee, as a freshman to watch; here is what I said in that article about him:

"With only one returning starter in the Vols secondary back, expect Eric Berry to start from day one. He is the best cover corner in this years class and could easily be one of the top DB's in the SEC by the end of the season. You heard it at "The Sports Flow" first."

Thanksgiving Day was dismissal day for Hanlon, on a day best known for carving up a golden bird for a feast; the Washington Capitals decided that the time had arrived to sacrifice their coach.

Glen Hanlon, the victim of an underperforming Capitals squad, was let go following yet another uninspiring game from his team. A rather common experience this year unfortunately for Hanlon, who has been unable to light a fire under his team and turn them in the right direction.

This is the cover of the January 15, 1975 edition of Sports Illustrated, featuring none other than Paul Douglas Collins, who at the time was considered one of the best college basketball players in the country. His speed and ball-handling abilities earned him nicknames like The Torpedo Man, The Benton Blur (he played high school ball in Benton, Illinois), and Doug the Jet, and his scoring prowess caused SI to say that "...he may turn out to be Jerry West all over again...."

Doug's pro career didn't quite match that of The Logo's -- okay, it never even came close -- and he eventually went on to become a head coach who cried a lot and, as Wikipedia puts it, "is best known as being the coach who could not win an NBA title with Michael Jordan in his prime." But thanks to Sports Illustrated picture editor George J. Bloodgood, Doug gave the world enough dead sexy to fuel our national libido forever.