It's Baseball Season...

Sorry we've been MIA for so long. For me, work has been crazy the past few weeks. I've been sick. And some family was visiting from out of town. Hopefully we can get back into the flow of posting regularly again.

Anyway, with that, I've decided to post my predictions for the upcoming baseball season, which starts tonight at 8 p.m. EDT as the Mets take on the Cardinals in a battle of two of the better teams in the National League. Since every so-called "expert" predicts division winners, playoff series and award winners before the season, why can't I? Well, I can. So here it goes (but I'm going to predict the entire finish of divisions, not just division winners).

AL East
1. New York
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. Baltimore
5. Tampa Bay

AL Central
1. Detroit
2. Chicago
3. Minnesota
4. Cleveland
5. Kansas City

AL West
1. Los Angeles
2. Oakland
3. Texas
4. Seattle

NL East
1. New York
2. Atlanta
3. Philadelphia
4. Florida
5. Washington, D.C.

NL Central
1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Houston
4. Milwaukee
5. Cincinnati
6. Pittsburgh

NL West
1. San Diego
2. Los Angeles
3. Arizona
4. San Francisco
5. Colorado

Wild Card Winners
AL: Boston
NL: Los Angeles

AL Division Playoffs
Detroit over Boston
Los Angeles over New York

NL Division Playoffs
New York over Los Angeles
St. Louis over San Diego

AL Championship
Detroit over Los Angeles

NL Championship
New York over St. Louis

World Series
New York over Detroit

I'm not really too sure about the playoffs, so don't trust my predictions on that. I think Chicago and Oakland in the AL and Atlanta and Philadelphia in the NL will have a shot at the wild card as well. San Diego and Los Angeles will come down to the wire again this year. St. Louis should be able to run away with the NL Central. The Mets will have a tough run, but repeat. The Yankees and Red Sox will come down to the final couple of weeks. Detroit will win the AL Central by 5+ games, and the teams finishing second through fourth will all be within four games of each other.

Your thoughts? Post them to the comments section!

FINAL PROJECTIONS - 5 p.m. EDT

Here are my final projections for the NCAA Tournament...

America East - Albany
Atlantic 10 - George Washington, Xavier
ACC - North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech
Atlantic Sun - Belmont
Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Big East - Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse
Big Sky - Weber State
Big South - Winthrop
Big 10 - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue
Big West - Long Beach State
Colonial - Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Drexel
Conference USA - Memphis
Horizon - Wright State, Butler
Ivy - Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic - Niagra
Mid-Continent - Oral Roberts
Mid-America - Miami (Ohio)
Mid-Eastern Athletic - Florida A&M
Missouri Valley - Creighton, Southern Illinois
Mountain West - Nevada-Las Vegas, Brigham Young
Northeast - Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley - Eastern Kentucky
Pacific-1o - Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, Washington State, Southern California
Patriot - Holy Cross
Southeastern - Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Southern - Davidson
Southland - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southwest Athletic - Jackson State
Sun Belt - North Texas
West Coast - Gonzaga
Western Athletic - New Mexico State, Nevada

Five Teams I wouldn't be at all surprised to see in the bracket:
Kansas State
Florida State
Missouri State
Air Force
Stanford

If the selection committee favors the big conferences, Old Dominion and Drexel could be in serious trouble.

Bubble Update: Sunday 3:05 p.m. EDT

Purdue can breathe a sigh of relief...North Carolina State's run fell short in the ACC Championship. North Carolina wrapped up a No. 1 see with the win.

Bubble Update: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. EDT

Update to the bubble...not much change...I am removing Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Arkansas from the bubble. I would be shocked to see any of those three in the tournament.

Final Six In:
1. Old Dominion
2. Georgia Tech
3. Texas Tech
4. Illinois
5. Drexel
6. Purdue

First Five Out:
1. Kansas State
2. Florida State
3. Missouri State
4. Air Force
5. Stanford

NC State is within three of North Carolina right now, so that could spell trouble for Purdue.

I think your final six teams will come from this list of 11. Who knows, maybe all five I have out will be in and only one of the six I have in will make it.

The Ever Shifting Bubble

Through games at 5:20 p.m. EST here is how the bubble is changing...

Mississippi State and Michigan have fallen completely off. Arkansas is flying up fast, but still on the outside, looking in. Oklahoma State is winning early right now. A win over Texas could catapult them up the list. Kansas State played Kansas close, but lost. Arkansas's victory certainly doesn't help the Wildcats. Purdue's loss to Ohio State won't kill them. Nor would an Illinois loss to Wisconsin (though Illinois can't afford to get lown out here in the last nine minutes of the game).

So...

Final Six In:
1. Old Dominion
2. Georgia Tech
3. Illinois
4. Purdue
5. Drexel
6. Texas Tech

First Eight Out:
1. Missouri State
2. Florida State
3. Arkansas
4. Kansas State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Air Force
7. West Virginia
8. Stanford

But what do I know? I'm not on the selection committee. If I were on the selection committee this is how I would want it to play out, but of course there are many factors being discussed by the committee right now. That, and they have more information to work with than I have. But, this is my best guess as of 5:20 p.m. EST.

Seeding the Tournament

I've tried to once again seed the tournament...Here is what I've come up with...

East Rutherford Region
1. Florida
16. Niagra

8. Michigan State
9. Syracuse

4. Maryland
13. Wright State

5. Creighton
12. Gonzaga

3. Texas
14. Pennsylvania

6. Virginia Tech
11. Drexel

7. Louisville
10. Xavier

2. Wisconsin
15. Delaware State

St. Louis Region
1. Ohio State
16. Central Connecticut State/Mississippi Valley State

8. Virginia
9. Vanderbilt

4. Washington State
13. New Mexico State

5. Notre Dame
12. George Washington

3. Pittsburgh
14. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

6. Boston College
11. Texas Tech

7. Kentucky
10. Illinois

2. Memphis
15. Albany

San Jose Region
1. North Carolina
16. North Texas

8. Villanova
9. Arizona

4. Nevada
13. Holy Cross

5. BYU
12. Winthrop

3. Southern Illinois
14. Long Beach State

6. Marquette
11. Purdue

7. Duke
10. Virginia Commonwealth

2. UCLA
15. Eastern Kentukcy

San Antonio Region
1. Kansas
16. Weber State

8. Butler
9. Indiana

4. Oregon
13. Akron

5. UNLV
12. Davidson

3. Texas A&M
14. Oral Roberts

6. Tennessee
11. Georgia Tech

7. Southern California
10. Old Dominion

2. Georgetown
15. Belmont

NCAA Tournament Projections: The Day Before

Selection Sunday is tomorrow! So let’s jump right into the fray here and let you know what is going on. I am going to change up the look so you can see all the bubble teams together (just a reminder, automatic bids are given to the highest team left in the tournament).

Bubble teams are really sweating it out now that both Xavier (Atlantic 10) and Nevada (Western Athletic) both lost in their respective semifinals. Both of those conferences would have been one-bid conferences had those teams won. Now, they are likely to be two-bid conferences stealing precious at-large space.

One-Bid Conferences (18):
America East: Vermont
Atlantic Sun: Belmont
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Winthrop
Big West: Long Beach State
Ivy: Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic: Niagra
Mid Continent: Oral Roberts
Mid-America: Akron
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Delaware State
Northeast: Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley: Eastern Kentucky
Patriot: Holy Cross
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southwest Athletic: Mississippi Valley State
Sunbelt: North Texas
West Coast Conference: Gonzaga

The following are one-bid conferences assuming the top seed wins.

Conference USA (1): Memphis

Now for the rest of the conferences (total current bids in parenthesis):

Atlantic 10 (2):
Automatic Bid: George Washington
Lock(s): Xavier
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: None

Atlantic Coast Conference (7):
Automatic Bid: North Carolina
Lock(s): Boston College, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland
Bubble In: Georgia Tech
Bubble Out: Florida State

Big 12 (4):
Automatic Bid: Kansas
Lock(s): Texas A&M, Texas
Bubble In: Texas Tech
Bubble Out: Kansas State

Big East (7):
Automatic Bid: Georgetown
Lock(s): Marquette, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: West Virginia

Big Ten (6):
Automatic Bid: Ohio State
Lock(s): Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana
Bubble In: Illinois, Purdue
Bubble Out: Michigan

Colonial Athletic (3):
Automatic Bid: Virginia Commonwealth
Lock(s): None
Bubble In: Old Dominion, Drexel
Bubble Out: None

Horizon (2):
Automatic Bid: Wright State
Lock(s): Butler
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: None

Missouri Valley (2):
Automatic Bid: Creighton
Lock(s): Southern Illinois
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: Missouri State

Mountain West (2):
Automatic Bid: BYU
Lock(s): UNLV
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: Air Force

Pacific-10 (5):
Automatic Bid: Oregon
Lock(s): UCLA, USC, Arizona, Washington State
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: Stanford

Southeastern (4):
Automatic Bid: Florida
Lock(s): Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: Arkansas, Mississippi State

Western Athletic (2):
Automatic Bid: New Mexico State
Lock(s): Nevada
Bubble In: None
Bubble Out: None

They way I figure it, there are six spots still left on the bubble with 16 teams fighting for those spots. That means a ton of possibilities over the next couple of days. Here is how I am breaking down the bubble:

Ranking the Final Six on the Inside:
1 Old Dominion
2 Illinois
3 Purdue
4 Georgia Tech
5 Drexel
6 Texas Tech

Ranking the 10 Teams on the Outside:
1 Missouri State
2 Florida State
3 Kansas State
4 Oklahoma State
5 Air Force
6 West Virginia
7 Stanford
8 Arkansas
9 Michigan
10 Mississippi State

With Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Mississippi State still in their respective conference tournaments, they have the biggest opportunity to jump up or down in the final rankings.

ESPN can throw its weight around

IF NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is watching ESPN's SportsCenter right now, he's probably gritting his teeth. Maybe he's cursing under his breath. Or punching the wall.

Regardless of what he may be doing to vent his anger, he's probably not happy. And the source of his rage may have a lot to do with those clips of indoor football stealing valuable seconds from those few-and-far-between hockey highlights.
Bettman has seen how ESPN can giveth and taketh away.

The cable network, located in Bristol, Conn., has become sports' biggest superpower. Bigger than the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers or Dallas Cowboys. Bigger than any of the leagues it has brokered deals with to televise their games. Bigger than perhaps ABC — a television giant in its own right that carries the ESPN logo on any athletic event it broadcasts.

ESPN is so influential it can sway the masses to stop paying attention to one sport and focus on another.

Remember when the last time the NHL was relevant?

Try May 27, 2005.

That was the day before ESPN declined the option to televise games for the upcoming hockey season and ended its agreement with the struggling league. The end of the NHL's relationship with the network came on the heels of a labor dispute between the players and owners that led to the cancellation of the previous season.

The NHL has since stuck a deal with Versus, which was formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network, to bring its product into homes across the nation. But it hasn't been the same for the NHL. While ESPN continues as a juggernaut, the NHL has been marginalized. It's hard to even classify hockey as one of the four major sports anymore.

Meanwhile, ESPN has tried to bolster the popularity of the Arena Football League, which it has owned a minority stake in since last December. Suddenly, clips of games that would never have never appeared on the network's most prominent program — SportsCenter — are being shown.

So are lengthy packages on the AFL's most prominent stars. It won't be surprising that in the coming years if the AFL gains a stronger foothold in the cluttered sports landscape.

In fact, with ESPN behind it, it would be more shocking if it didn't.
Gary Bettman knows this all too well. And he can't do anything about it.

Photo Source: www.cbc.ca

NCAA Tournament Projections: Midweek Notes

I just wanted to make some changes to the back end of the NCAA Tournament. I have figured there are nine at-large bids still up for grabs (assuming no big conference tournament upsets – which of course is probably going to happen). But until there are conference tournament upsets, here are the final nine teams I have in the tournament, followed by the list of teams that are still under consideration for an at-large bid, but need to perform well at the end of the regular season an in their respective conference tournaments. I was able to make the first eight decisions pretty quickly. The ninth was really difficult and had me thinking to myself, if they didn’t have that damn play-in game, getting to 64 teams is easy.

Teams 57-64 (in no particular order): Texas Tech, Syracuse, Old Dominion, Drexel, Creighton, Missouri State, Stanford, Illinois
Team 65: Oklahoma State
Team 66: West Virginia
Teams 67-76 (in no particular order): Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas State, Purdue, Michigan, Bradley, San Diego State

I will work on new seedings and pairings soon.

NCAA Tournament Seedings

All right. Here is my first crack at trying to seed teams for the NCAA Tournament. I'm sure I've missed something as there are a few rules when seeding, such as conference opponents cannot play each other in the first couple of rounds. So I've attempted to follow that, and hopefully I've created matchups that follow NCAA Tournament rules in terms of the pairings. At very least I've given each team a seed 1-16 (whether they end in that exact matchup or region is another story all together).

I started by ranking the teams 1-65, which was difficult by itself. Than I snaked through the seedings for each four regions. From there, I tried to move a few teams around to make pairings follow NCAA guidelines, and hopefully I pulled that part off.

Anyway, here are the projected seeds and match ups.

East Rutherford Region
1. North Carolina
16. Weber State

8. Illinois
9. Villanova

4. Kentucky
13. Vermont

5. Arizona
12. Davidson

3. Pittsburgh
14. Toledo

6. UNLV
11. Old Dominion

7. Maryland
10. Stanford

2. Texas A&M
15 . Marist

St. Louis Region
1. Ohio State
16. South Alabama

8. Virginia
9. Vanderbilt

4. Butler
13. Pennsylvania

5. Air Force
12. Kansas State

3. Memphis
14. Long Beach State

6. Notre Dame
11. Virginia Commonwealth

7. BYU
10. USC

2. Kansas
15. East Tennessee State

San Jose Region
1. UCLA
16. Central Connecticut State/Mississippi Valley State

8. Creighton
9. Xavier

4. Duke
13. Bucknell

5. Tennessee
12. West Virginia

3. Washington State
14. Oral Roberts

6. Texas
11. Winthrop

7. Indiana
10. Missouri State

2. Georgetown
15. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

San Antonio Region
1. Wisconsin
16. Austin Peay

8. Marquette
9. Oregon

4. Nevada
13. Santa Clara

5. Boston College
12. Alabama

3. Southern Illinois
14. Wright State

6. Virginia Tech
11. Texas Tech

7. Michigan State
10. Louisville

2. Florida
15. Delaware State

If you want to see who is in and who is on the bubble broken down by conference, just scroll down to the post below. Who have I seeded too high? Who is seeded too low? Thoughts? Comments? Post them below!

NCAA Tournament Projections: Week 6

We are just a couple of weeks away from Selection Sunday. Conference tournaments start this week and its time for teams to scramble for another good win or two, or maybe even a Cinderella run through the conference tournament so they can go dancing in the middle of March. Who’s in? Who’s out? Well, here is the sixth installment of our NCAA Tournament projections.

Just a reminder, automatic bids are given to the team currently leading the conference.

Let’s start with conferences that will absolutely be getting only one bid (these teams need to maintain their spots at the top to make the dance):
America East: Vermont
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Sky: Weber State
Big West: Long Beach State
Ivy: Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic: Marist
Mid Continent: Oral Roberts
Mid-America: Toledo
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Delaware State
Northeast: Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: Bucknell
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southwest Athletic: Mississippi Valley State
Sunbelt: South Alabama

The following conferences will be one-bid conferences if the current leader wins the conference. If the current leader does not win the conference tournament, they are potentially two-bid conferences.

Big South: Winthrop
Conference USA: Memphis
Western Athletic: Nevada

Now for the rest of the conferences (total current bids in parenthesis):

Atlantic 10 (1):
In – Xavier (automatic bid)
On the Bubble – Massachusetts

Atlantic Coast Conference (6):
In – North Carolina (automatic bid), Boston College, Duke, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Virginia
On the Bubble – Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State

Big 12 (5):
In – Kansas (automatic bid), Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State
On the Bubble – Oklahoma State

Big East (7):
In – Georgetown (automatic bid), Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Villanova, Louisville
On the Bubble – Syracuse

Big Ten (5):
In – Wisconsin (automatic bid), Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois
On the Bubble – Purdue, Michigan

Colonial Athletic (2):
In – Virginia Commonwealth (automatic bid), Old Dominion
On the Bubble – Drexel

Horizon (2):
In – Wright State (automatic bid), Butler
On the Bubble – None

Missouri Valley (3):
In – Southern Illinois (automatic bid), Creighton, Missouri State
On the Bubble – Bradley

Mountain West (3):
In – BYU (automatic bid), UNLV, Air Force
On the Bubble – San Diego State

Pacific-10 (6):
In – UCLA (automatic bid), Oregon, Washington State, USC, Arizona, Stanford
On the Bubble – None

Southeastern (5):
In – Florida (automatic bid), Kentucky, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
On the Bubble – Georgia

West Coast Conference (1):
In – Santa Clara (automatic bid)
On the Bubble – Gonzaga

Final Four In: Texas Tech, Alabama, West Virginia, Kansas State
First Four Out: Oklahoma State, San Diego State, Purdue, Georgia Tech

I am going to attempt to seed them today and post that later. Not sure how it will go since it is my first time seeding this year, so check back later today to see who gets what seed.

What team did I miss? What team doesn’t deserve to be on the list? We want to know what you think. Post your comments below. Do us a favor and click on a Google Ad on the sidebar as well. It’ll only take 10 seconds.

NCAA Tournament Projections: Week 5

The projections are continuing to change. As the regular season starts to wind down things are shaking out and teams on the bubble are falling fast. But, there are still plenty of teams jockeying for one of the final coveted spots in the Big Dance.

Just a reminder, automatic bids are given to the team currently leading the conference.

Let’s start with conferences that will absolutely be getting only one bid (these teams need to maintain their spots at the top to make the dance):

America East: Vermont
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Winthrop
Big West: Long Beach State
Ivy: Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic: Marist
Mid Continent: Oral Roberts
Mid-America: Akron
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Delaware State
Northeast: Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: Holy Cross
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southwest Athletic: Jackson State
Sunbelt: South Alabama

The following conferences will be one-bid conferences if the current leader wins the conference. If the current leader does not win the conference tournament, they are likely to be two-bid conferences.

Conference USA: Memphis
Western Athletic: Nevada

Now for the rest of the conferences (total current bids in parenthesis):

Atlantic 10 (2):
In – Rhode Island (automatic bid), Xavier
On the Cusp – None
Long Climb Ahead – Massachusetts

Atlantic Coast Conference (7):
In – North Carolina (automatic bid), Boston College, Duke, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia
On the Cusp – Florida State
Long Climb Ahead – Georgia Tech

Big 12 (5):
In – Texas A&M (automatic bid), Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
On the Cusp – Texas Tech
Long Climb Ahead – None

Big East (6):
In – Pittsburgh (automatic bid), Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, West Virginia, Villanova
On the Cusp – Louisville
Long Climb Ahead – Syracuse, Providence

Big Ten (5):
In – Wisconsin (automatic bid), Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois
On the Cusp – Purdue
Long Climb Ahead – Michigan

Colonial Athletic (1):
In – Virginia Commonwealth (automatic bid)
On the Cusp – Old Dominion
Long Climb Ahead – Hofstra, Drexel

Horizon (2):
In – Wright State (automatic bid), Butler
On the Cusp – None
Long Climb Ahead – None

Missouri Valley (3):
In – Southern Illinois (automatic bid), Creighton, Bradley
On the Cusp – Missouri State
Long Climb Ahead – None

Mountain West (3):
In – BYU (automatic bid), UNLV, Air Force
On the Cusp – None
Long Climb Ahead – None

Pacific-10 (6):
In – UCLA (automatic bid), Oregon, Washington State, USC, Arizona, Stanford
On the Cusp – None
Long Road Ahead – None

Southeastern (5):
In – Florida (automatic bid), Kentucky, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
On the Cusp – Georgia, Arkansas
Long Road Ahead – Mississippi

West Coast Conference (1):
In – Santa Clara (automatic bid)
On the Cusp – Gonzaga
Long Road Ahead – None

Final Four In: Kansas State, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Illinois
First Four Out: Purdue, Texas Tech, Missouri State, Louisville

What team did I miss? What team doesn’t deserve to be on the list? We want to know what you think. Post your comments below.