OK, a day late and possibly good sense short, here are my picks for all 63 games. Basically, I’m going with the selection committee. When the committee gets it wrong — when it has a team seeded No. 4 when it should be a No. 6, or a team seeded No. 12 when it should be a No. 9 — there are more upsets. When the committee gets it right — and has the teams slotted properly — there are fewer upsets. I think this committee got it right, especially in regard to the first four seed lines. So I have 14 of the top 16 seeds reaching the Sweet 16. ***EAST First round: UNC over St. Mary’s, Arkansas over Indiana, Notre Dame over George Mason, Washington State over Winthrop, St. Joe’s over Oklahoma, Louisville over Boise State, Butler over South Alabama, Tennessee over American. Second round: UNC over Arkansas, Washington State over Notre Dame, Louisville over St. Joe’s, Tennessee over Butler. Sweet 16: UNC over Washington State, Louisville over … [Read more...] about NCAA tournament predictions: UCLA, North Carolina, Texas and Kansas for the Final Four
Texas
Action/reaction: Cal’s QBs, Kiffin gets canned, UCLA joins the 21st century, Luck to Texas(?) and more
Thoughts on developments on the field and off … Action: Cal coach Sonny Dykes expected to name starting quarterback today (Thursday).Reaction I: That there is even a question — Jared Goff or Zach Kline? Zach Kline or Jared Goff? — is a bit unexpected given where things stood a week ago.Reaction II: Here’s the view from the participants themselves, courtesy of BANG’s Jeff Faraudo. I’m not sure I agree with the party line that competition is best for all involved. In my view, the less uncertainty at quarterback, the better. In Cal’s case, the best scenario is a zero-doubt scenario: Goff knows he’s the starter and the team knows he’s the starter.Reaction III: That was precisely the situation until his awful outing in Eugene. I’d argue that one bad quarter against a top-five team, in the first road game of his career, and in a monsoon, should not have been enough for Dykes to re-open the competition given the possible … [Read more...] about Action/reaction: Cal’s QBs, Kiffin gets canned, UCLA joins the 21st century, Luck to Texas(?) and more
My AP top-25 basketball poll: Week 10 (Texas still No. 1)
Highlights from the ballot … * Kept the top three (Texas, Kentucky and Michigan State) the same for one of the few times this season. * Dropped Purdue from No. 4 to 14 after its losses to Ohio State and Northwestern and moved Ohio State onto the ballot to No. 15. * Seriously considered putting the Buckeyes ahead of the Boilermakers based on the head-to-head result but ultimately left Purdue above OSU because its overall resume is stronger. * Once again: Did not consider a Pac-10 team, although if forced to pick one it would have been ASU. * Dropped from the ballot: North Carolina, Missouri and Baylor. * New to the ballot: Ohio State, Clemson and New Mexico. * Also considered: UAB, Mississippi State, Butler, St. Mary’s, Texas A&M and Mississippi. 1. Texas … [Read more...] about My AP top-25 basketball poll: Week 10 (Texas still No. 1)
Cal football report card: Grading the win over Texas
(Bay Area News Group) The win becomes official and instantly we seek to define it: The signature victory for coach Sonny Dykes? Cal’s biggest upset since … since? As upsets go, this was moderate: The Bears were an eight-point underdog at home against the No. 11 team — a team they beat last year on the road, by the way. Major upsets require a double-digit underdog and/or an opponent ranked much closer to No. 1 (preferably in the top five). It’s not unreasonable to call it a signature win for Dykes, although one could argue that will only come when he beats one of Cal’s conference rivals (Stanford, Oregon or one of the L.A. schools). Certainly, it’s the most significant victory of the Dykes era … their most significant since the bottom fell out under Jeff Tedford … and a result that will provide fuel on several fronts. Front 1: It adds instant credibility each time the coaching staff walks into the home of a Texas recruit. The Lone Star … [Read more...] about Cal football report card: Grading the win over Texas
My AP top-25 ballot: Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Stanford jump, LSU tumbles down, down … and out
(Credit: Montgomery Advertiser) * Please note: The Hotline will have a new home, and new url, starting Monday. The address will be posted here. Thanks in advance for your understanding // … Week Four was a tad bit like Week Two, in that it wasn’t loaded like Weeks One and Three. There were only a handful of substantive matchups: Wisconsin-Michigan State, Stanford-UCLA, Florida-Tennessee, Texas A&M-Arkansas and, to a lesser extent, Oklahoma State-Baylor and Georgia-Mississippi. But in general, we didn’t gain a great deal of insight. And in this case, at least, I didn’t make major changes to the ballot. A few highlights … *** Ohio State was idle but remained on top because I could find no team that deserved to displace the Buckeyes. Louisville retained the No. 2 spot and Alabama the No. 3 after each dispatched creampuffs. *** Wisconsin jumped two positions, to No. 4, after beating Michigan State. I didn’t give that victory more weight for the … [Read more...] about My AP top-25 ballot: Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Stanford jump, LSU tumbles down, down … and out