28 December 2008

It all went our way, and we STILL blew it

With a 31-24 loss at the hand of the Houston Texans, the Bears put the cap on a 9-7 season, and really didn't look like a playoff team out there. Most of the miracle to get the Bears into the playoffs had already happened, with the following happening in Week 16:
  • Dallas losing to Baltimore 33-24, becoming 9-6
  • Tampa Bay losing to San Diego 41-24, becoming 9-6
  • Minnesota losing to Atlanta 24-17, becoming 9-6
  • The Bears winning the Monday Night Football finale against the Packers, becoming (you guessed it!) 9-6
I'll give you that the Ravens might be a better team than the Cowboys, but the Bolts (currently 7-8) over the Bucs IN Tampa Bay?! And the Vikes couldn't even protect their own Dome against a Falcons team that had already locked up a playoff spot.

So going into Week 17, all the Bears needed was a win and:
  • A loss by Minnesota (to NYG) for the NFC North
  • Losses by Tampa (to Oak) and Dallas (to Phi) for a Wild Card spot
OK, so the Vikings DID win against the Giants, but in ANOTHER game in Tampa, the Bucs lay an egg and lose to the 5-11 RAIDERS 31-24. The path was set! The door was open!! All the Bears had to do was go into a Reliant Stadium that was actually heavily speckled with Bears fans and beat the 7-8 Texans. Could they do it? NO. And what do they do? Give up 31 goddamn points. So much for a vaunted defense.

And since this was written before the Dallas-Philly game, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Philly wins, which would have given the Bears the 6th wild card spot.

Oh well...I guess Illini Basketball is on the upswing. They should get into the Top 25 after that win against Mizzou.

23 December 2008

When will the Yankees learn?

With the New York Yankees putting the ink on an 8-year, $180 million deal with switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira, I wonder when they will learn that signing big name free agents doe not equal championships. I jokingly said after the A.J. Burnett deal that the Yankees should "cut the crap and just sign the entire country of the Dominican Republic."

Now the Yanks will owe north of $60 million to just 3 players. To put that in perspective, in 2008, at least Oakland ($48M), Florida ($22M), Washington ($55M), Pittsburgh ($49M), Tampa Bay ($44M), Kansas City ($58M), and Minnesota ($58M) had a smaller payroll to their entire team than New York has to Sebathia, Burnett, and Teixeira. In another perspective, the top nine money-makers on the Yankees: Sebathia, Burnett, Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui, and Johnny Damon, will combine to make a combined salary of just over $159 million, which alone is more than any other team.

My point here is that just because you have the highest payroll in baseball doesn't mean you have the best team on the field. Take the Rays this year for example. They relied on their farm system and took rode their $44 million payroll and (most importantly) their TEAM CHEMISTRY on a run all the way to the World Series. Remember those 9 = 8 t-shirts? 9 baseball players working together equals one of the 8 teams that make the playoffs. Why don't the Yankees take that 2009 payroll that will probably be close to $225 million and hire someone to come up with a gimmick like that.

Final prediction: New York will return to the playoffs, but will come up short again to stay 0-for-the 21st century.

21 December 2008

The Blackhawks...are they for real?

This is probably my most ill-informed post up until this point, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing out of the 2008-09 Chicago Blackhawks. They just finished up a 3-game road trip in western Canada at Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver undefeated, including a 9-2 domination of the Oilers last Tuesday night. This also brings their winning streak overall to 7 games, and a scant 5 points behind the division leading Detroit Red Wings in the Central.

To which I say, is this for real? If the playoffs started today, the Hawks would play host to the Canucks in the first round. Patrick Kane, who by the way is barely 20 and , is 9th in the NHL in assists, 4th in points, and is the LEADING vote-getter not just for forwards, but the entire Western Conference. While ESPN (aka: the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network) touts Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Kane has quietly become one of the NHL's elite. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, also, by the way is just 20 years old, is 3rd behind Kane in all-star voting for Western Conference forwards, and leads the team in goals with 18.

With my lack of full information, the only issue I see is the goalie carosel between Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet, pretty much playing half and half all year so far. I also would have kept Hawks legend Dennis Savard a bit longer, but now I stand by that decision given the teams blast off since then.

I will definitely make sure to find some time between the 5 college football bowl games on January 1st to watch the Hawks take on the Red Wings at Wrigley Field in the annual NHL Winter Classic.

20 December 2008

Bob's Official Bowl Picks

Date

Bowl

Team 1

Team 2

Pick

Actual Winner

12/20

New Mexico

Fresno

Colo St

Colo St

Colo St

12/20

Eaglebank

Wake

Navy

Navy

Wake

12/20

Las Vegas

Arizona

BYU

Arizona

Arizona

12/20

St. Petersburg

USF

Memphis

USF

USF

12/21

New Orleans

Troy

SMU

Troy

SMU

12/23

Poinsettia

TCU

Boise St

TCU

TCU

12/24

Hawaii

ND

Hawaii

ND

ND

12/26

Motor City

Cent Mich

Fla Atl

Cent Mich

Fla Atl

12/27

Meineke

West Va

UNC

West Va

West Va

12/27

Champs Sports

Fla St

Wisc

Fla St

Fla St

12/27

Emerald

California

Miami

California

Cal

12/28

Independence

N Illinois

La Tech

N Illinois

LT

12/29

Papa Johns.com

Rutgers

NC State

Rutgers

Rutgers

12/29

Alamo

Mizzou

N'Western

Mizzou

Mizzou

12/30

Texas

Rice

W Mich

W Mich

Rice

12/30

Humanitarian

Nevada

MD

Nevada

MD

12/30

Holiday

Okla St

Oregon

Okla St

Oregon

12/31

Chick-Fil-A

Ga Tech

LSU

LSU

LSU

12/31

Sun

Oregon St

Pitt

Oregon St

Oregon St

12/31

Music City

BC

Vandy

BC

Vandy

12/31

Armed Forces

Houston

Air Force

Houston

Houston

12/31

Insight

Kansas

Minnesota

Kansas

KU

1/1

Gator

Clemson

Nebraska

Nebraska

Neb

1/1

Orange

Cincinnati

Va Tech

Cincinnati

VT

1/1

Outback

Iowa

S Carolina

Iowa

Iowa

1/1

Capital One

Mich St

Georgia

Georgia

UGa

1/1

Rose

USC

Penn St

USC

USC

1/2

Liberty

E Carolina

Kentucky

Kentucky

UK

1/2

Cotton

Ole Miss

Texas Tech

Texas Tech

Ole Miss

1/2

Sugar

Alabama

Utah

Alabama

Utah

1/3

International

UConn

Buffalo

UConn

UConn

1/5

Fiesta

Texas

Ohio St

Texas

Texas

1/6

GMAC

Ball St

Tulsa

Ball St

Tulsa

1/8

BCS

Florida

Oklahoma

Florida

Florida

16 December 2008

Bob's Take on....The BCS

#1 Oklahoma v. #2 Florida. January 8, 2008. Miami, Florida.


To me, the two best teams in the country are playing for the National Championship, but too much of it by chance. Technically, it's the Bowl Championship Series National Championship. I found out that the BCS actually has no official affiliation with the NCAA. It's actually the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) title that is called the NCAA Division I football championship. They've got it right, and they've been getting it right since 1978. 11-game regular season, 16-team tournament (which will go to 20 teams in 2010), and there is really no one who is in the know that would have a valid opinion that has a problem with it.


Especially in the last handful of years there's been so much controversy involving who should be there, why another team shouldn't be in there, and what's going on with undefeated mid-majors? As the talent level has stepped up so much, so has the controversy. Many are advocating a 8-team playoff with the conference champions of the 6 BCS conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, ACC, SEC, Pac-10), and 2 at-large bids, but I really don't think that would work.

This 8-team playoff would include the ACC Champ Virginia Tech, who went an abysmal 9-4, and is ranked a mere 19th in the BCS Standings. It would also include Big East Champ Cincinnati (#12 BCS), who although sits at 11-2, beat the likes of Eastern Kentucky and barely squeaked by Akron 17-15. Why am I not bashing the rest of the powerhouses who put cupcakes on their nonconference schedule? Because the ACC and Big East were incredibly weak as a whole this year, at least for a BCS conference. Hell, the Mountain West has more teams (Utah, TCU, BYU) ranked in the AP top 25 than the ACC (Va Tech, Ga Tech) or the Big East (Cincy, Pitt).

And what about those 2 at-large bids? Taking out the 6 BCS conference champs (Va Tech, Cincy, Penn State, Oklahoma, USC, Florida), here's a list of who you have left to vie for the last 2 spots, with current BCS standing:
#3 Texas
#4 Alabama
#6 Utah
#7 Texas Tech
#9 Boise St
#10 Ohio St
This system would take teams like the aforementioned Cincy and Va Tech over a team like Texas Tech, whose only blemish in their 11-1 season was a 65-21 drubbing by Oklahoma. I'll admit it was a bad loss, but I would take that 10 times out of 10 against a 4-loss Va Tech. And I will be one of the first in line to say that an undefeated team (Utah and Boise St both at 12-0) should at least have a shot at the title. Even #10 Ohio St (and this is hard considering my die-hard Illini fandom) deserves some credit, because they lost to the BCS #5 USC and #8 Penn State.

Therefore, if you go with 8 teams, you would have to go straight up BCS standings, without regard to making sure certain conferences get in or the number of bids per conference. This would give you the following matchups:
#1 Florida vs. #8 Penn St
#2 Oklahoma vs. #7 Texas Tech
#3 Texas vs. #6 Utah
#4 Alabama vs. #5 USC
Maybe you move around Texas Tech to make sure that there's not a conference matchup for the first round, or find a way to put Boise in there, but as it stands you have 8 quality teams, each of which have no more than 1 loss, and each of which were in the national championship conversation (with the possible exception of Utah) at some point during the year. You also have 3 weeks of games, which is still shorter than the current 34-bowl schedule in place this year.

To me, if you wanted to include the 6 champions of the BCS conferences, you have to go to a 16-team playoff, giving you 10 at-large bids, and giving you the exact format of the FCS, although, as stated before, the FCS is going to 20 teams in 2010. It would also give teams like Oklahoma State, Georgia (who by the way seemed like everyone's pick for the BCS Championship in the preseason), and Ohio State a chance to make a run. Even 16 teams, if you started at the same time the bowl season started, would take you less time than to play 34 bowls.

And to those who say you would lose the pageantry of the more classic bowls, I say you can still have it. Name a bowl game for every game in the playoff...it's that simple. That's 7 bowls (in the 8-team playoff) and 15 bowls (16-team playoff) right there. You can fill the rest with the less classic bowls such as the ever-popular San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl or the always riveting magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl.

This would also make it hard to actually get into a bowl, with some teams playing 2 or 3 bowls. I can't really find solace in the fact that there will be 34 teams this year that will end their season with a postseason victory, or that a 6-6 team is considered bowl-eligible. If you can't finish a season with an winning record, your season should not be extended. This also means that if a 6-6 team were to make it to a bowl and lose, that means they made the postseason but finished with a LOSING record. Pardon my French, but WHAT THE FUCK?!

I really wish a had a few followers, not for the fact that I could say I have fans, but I would like to hear what others have to say.

14 December 2008

I'd like to point out who did this first



When you watch as much sports as I do, you're bound to see this commericial. Every time I see it I cringe, because I know a majority of people watching it can't appreciate it. I'm speaking of course about the originator of the chalk toss, His Airness, Michael Jordan.

In one of my personal favorites, here's the introductions to MJ's first game back on the Chicago's West Side (the relevant part is at 5:08, but the entire clip is great):



Looking back at this one, it brings me back to most of my childhood, turning up the TV as high as it would go to the tune of the Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius," and United Center PA announcer Ray Clay's famous "From North. CAROLINA.....AT GUARD....6-6....MICHAELLLLLLL.... JORRRRDANNNNNNNN" ringing in my ears.

So to all the "witnesses" out there, Witness this...know your roots, and GO BULLS!!

Ron Jaworski: from the doghouse to the penthouse

A few years ago, I hated Ron Jaworski, NFL analyst on ESPN an color analyst alongside Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico on Monday Night Football. But in the past 2 years, I've grown to admire him for this fact: the guy does more film study than any other analyst at the network. Call it coming from a quarterback, but show me someone else at ESPN that breaks down as much film as Jaws. (I'm looking at you, Steve Young, Trent Dilfer, Tim Hasselbeck, etc.)

The reason I was a Jaworski hater was because he was just so loud. He seemed to command everyone's attention...all the time. Maybe it's because of his move to MNF. Maybe I was just naive. But I'm sure that now when I see Ron Jaworski, I know to trust his opinion because he's done his research.

Long Overdue (Bulls edition)

Again, even though I KNOW no one follows this blog, here's what I got for...Da Bulls [insert SuperFans here].

Derrick Rose....that's all you need to say. So what if we lucked out with the #1 pick with only a 1.3% chance of getting it. Call it destiny. The kid grew up in Chicago, won 2 state titles in Chicago at Simeon HS, you'd think he was bound to end up on the Bulls. In that 2006 Class AA State Title game (which I watched in its entirety by the way), Rose as a junior hit the game-winning floater lay-up in overtime for the win over Peoria Richwoods, 31-29. Some beat writers around Chicago were calling for a shot clock in high school basketball, but I just kept thinking: I just witnessed probably one of the best high school basketballs games I will ever see, and they want to change that? It still surprises me that I actually know EXACTLY where I was when I was watching it.

But on to his pro career. For a short moment, I thought the Bulls would take Michael Beasley out of K-State, simply for the fact that the guy could flat out score inside, which is what we desperately needed. But then it was...Why would I DO that?! Rose, as I found out in his year at Memphis, was a 1-guard that only comes around once or twice a decade. Like the quarterback in football is often called the Field General, that's what I saw in Rose. The hometown flava only sweetened the deal, and soon after the Bulls pulled off the improbable, my hope was that Derrick Rose would end up in the Madhouse on Madison.

As it currently stands, the Bulls are 11-12, sitting in #8 seed in the Eastern Conference (and even though I drink the Kool-Aid of Chicago sports I personally would not put the Bulls in the playoffs with a losing record, but that's another blog for another day). Those loyal to Chicago, part of this record can be contributed to the annual Circus Road Trip that the Bulls take every year for the namesake Barnum & Bailey Circus that comes to the United Center every November. Why they come every year during the start of basketball season I will never know, but I see this nugget in the 2008-09 Bulls: a 3-4 trip is the best, and even the first time with more than one win, since the glory days of Jordan, Pippen, and the rest.

So aside from my man-crush on D-Rose (who is the namesake of my fantasy basketball league), I say that my Bulls definitely have some potential to make some noise in the East, despite every analyst's apparent love for the Celtics and the Cavs in the conference finals. By the way, I would like to point out that when such a unanimous choice comes from these so-called experts, I find solace and a warm feeling inside me when the opposite happens (I personally, being an actuarial science major, trust the statheads like the folks at Accuscore than I do Tim Legler, Bill Walton, Jamal Mashburn and the rest at ESPN). So what was I talking about? I swear this happens way more often than it should.....oh yeah, the Bulls chances this season not counting the sheer awesomeness of Derrick Rose. With the starting five of the freakishly athletic Tyrus Thomas, the insane, seemingly endless amount of energy of Andres Nocioni and Joakim Noah, the streak shooting Ben Gordon (although he should generally come off the bench (I give you the 2005 Sixth Man of the Year.)), you have a lot a potential, and all that's needed is a way to put it allllllll together.

I'm not going to say I'm guaranteeing a conference (or even a division) championship, but the Bulls have a Field General at the point guard for years to come who is an all-out fuckin' balla, I can't help but have slightly high expectations.

12 December 2008

Long Overdue (Bears Edition)

Even I know absolutely NO ONE follows this, I feel bad for not posting anything in more than a month.

At the time this was written, the Bears (8-6) sit 1/2 game behind the Vikings (8-5) for the lead in the NFC North, with the Vikes owning the tie-breaker should they finish with the same record. I would like to point out the two teams' remaining schedule:


Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Bears

W vs. Saints (7-7)

vs. Packers (5-8)

@ Texans (6-7)

Vikings

@ Cardinals (8-5)

vs. Falcons (8-5)

vs. Giants (11-2)


To win, the Bears would need to finish either 3-0 or 2-1 (2-0 or 1-1 at this point) with the Vikings finishing 1-2 or 0-3 respectively, and looking at this schedule it's quite a real possibility.

Going through week by week of each team, after a win against New Orleans this week, Green Bay comes to town for the final Monday Night Football of the season. Courtesy of watching SportsCenter today, in the last 9 home games where the kickoff temperature was below freezing (28°F last night), the Bears are 9-0, winning by an average 12 points per game. After a 37-3 shellacking at Lambeau in Week 11, Chicago will no doubt be looking for revenge. I have loved Matt Forte ever since he christened the new Lucas Oil Stadium with 123 rush yards over the Colts in Week 1, and I'm looking forward to a big game from him.

In the season finale, the Bears travel to Houston and the indoor Reliant Stadium to take on the Texans. Houston is 24th against the run, and 18th against the pass, so I'm not quite sold either way on if Kyle Orton and/or Forte will have good (or bad), although I really don't see anything atrocious happening. On the Houston O v. Chicago D side, the 264 passing yards per game does bother me a bit, but the debacle Week 10 game against the Titans where the Bears secondary allowed a past-his-prime Kerry Collins to complete 73% of his passes for 289 yds and 2 TDs, I'm feeling much more confident, allowing an average of 194 passing yards per game since then, picking off 9 passes in those 5 games.

At the very worst, it's a 1-1 finish for a 9-7 2008 campaign, but if I was putting money on it, I would say 10-6 was in the future.

The Vikes, on the other hand, based on schedule, are a disaster waiting to happen. Let's take a look at their Week 15 opponent, the Ariizona Cardinals. I'll give you the fact that they Athave already clinched the NFC West and a probable #3 seed in the playoffs. But consider this: the Vikings rank #2 in the NFL against the run. The Cardinals run the ball 33% of the time. Thus: the Vikes Run D and the "Williams Wall" becomes a non-factor. Prediction: Kurt Warner solidifies his MVP canidacy with 325+ yards as the Cards roll the Vikings covering the mere -3 spread.

On to Week 16: the Atlanta Falcons. Two words: Matt Ryan. Four more words: Rookie of the Year. Yes, I'm dogging my beloved Matt Forte, but when you pretty much take an entire franchise on your shoulders, you have my respect. Oh yeah, you also have the #2 rusher in the NFL: Michael Turner. He would be a 1000-yard rusher by this week, and through 14 weeks, Turner has 14 rushing TDs. Fighting for their playoff lives, I see another loss, as well as against the spread [not released yet], and the Vikings falling to 8-7.

In the season finale for Minnesota against the New York Tackle Football Giants, even though the NYTFBG would in all likelihood have their playoff decided by now, I still see the Giants with the edge. The 3-headed monster of tEarth, Wind and Fire (aka: Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, and Ahmad Bradshaw) is enough to make even the Steelers squeamish. Add in last year Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and the unbelieveably potent Giants D, and you have the recipe for a Vikes loss.

Again, realistically you are looking at a (at best) a 9-7 record for Adrian Peterson and the Vikings, and if you made me put money on it I would say 8-8.

So there you have it. Bears 10-6, Vikes 8-8, and I give you the 2008 NFC North Division Champs, the Chicago Bears.


13 October 2008

Week 7 College Football Ranking (AP and me)

First Place Votes in Parentheses


Week 6 AP Week 6 Me Week 7 AP Week 7 Me
1 Oklahoma (43) Oklahoma Texas (39) Texas
2 Alabama (21) Missouri Alabama (26) Alabama
3 Missouri Alabama Penn State Penn State
4 LSU (1) LSU Oklahoma Florida
5 Texas Penn State Florida Texas Tech
6 Penn State Texas USC Oklahoma
7 Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Georgia
8 USC BYU Oklahoma State BYU
9 BYU Florida BYU Oklahoma State
10 Georgia Georgia Georgia USC
11 Florida USC Missouri Ohio State
12 Ohio State Ohio State Ohio State LSU
13 Vanderbilt Boise State LSU Missouri
14 Utah Kansas Utah Kansas
15 Boise State Vanderbilt Boise State Boise State
16 Kansas Auburn Kansas Utah
17 Oklahoma State Oklahoma State Virginia Tech South Florida
18 Virginia Tech Utah North Carolina Virginia Tech
19 South Florida South Florida South Florida North Carolina
20 Auburn Virginia Tech Michigan State Pittsburgh
21 Wake Forest Illinois Wake Forest Michigan State
22 North Carolina Pittsburgh Vanderbilt Vanderbilt
23 Michigan State Ball State Pittsburgh Ball State
24 Pittsburgh Michigan State Ball State Wake Forest
25 Ball State North Carolina California Tulsa


Falling out of the AP Top 25: Auburn
Falling out of My Top 25: Auburn, Illinois

Newly Ranked Teams in the AP Top 25: California
AP Biggest gain within ranking: Florida (11 --> 5)
AP Biggest gain into ranking: California ( 29 --> 25)
AP Biggest loss within ranking: LSU (4 --> 13), Vanderbilt (13 --> 22)
AP Biggest loss out of ranking: Auburn (20 --> 0 votes)

06 October 2008

Now my devotion is all Bears and Illini Football

With the Cubs getting swept by the Dodgers, I have decided to put all sports enthusiasm towards the football teams of the Chicago Bears and the Illinois Fighting Illini. For an offense that lead the NL in runs scored, doubles, total bases, OBP and slugging, I was thoroughly disappointed.

Other pitiful and otherwise disappointing stats of the series:
5-for-28 (.179) with runners in scoring position
9 XBH (12 for LAD)
5.87 starters ERA (1.42 LAD)
14 BB given out by the Cubs pitching staff
The Big 3 (Soriano, Lee, Ramirez) went a combined 9-for-37 (.243)

Our starting pitching (Dempster, Zambrano, and Harden respectively) dug us deep into holes early in the games and the heart of our order was not clutch to say the least. And after pretty much blowing away hitters for months, I was not expecting this out of our staff. Six runs scored over three games isn't gonna win a series 100 times out of 100 in this day and age, and so much more was expected after leading the NL in runs scored.

Saying "Wait 'til next year" sounds especially sour after such a successful 97-64 Division-winning regular season, but it still has to be said. Jim Edmonds was a great (and cheap) pickup, batting .256, 19 HR, and 49 RBI over 85 games as a Cub. Kosuke Fukudome, whom I thought at the beginning of the year had rookie of the year written all over him, seemed to be baffled by MLB pitching, especially on left-handers, during the entire second half.

So much was expected of this team. It was supposed to be THE year, with 7 All-Star selections, the highest payroll ever, and the most wins since 1935.

It gonna be a long winter, but now it's time to turn attention to football.

05 October 2008

Week 6 College Football Ranking (AP and me)

First Place votes in parentheses

Week 5 (Old)Week 6 (New)Me
#1Oklahoma (43)Oklahoma (51)
Oklahoma
#2Alabama (21) Alabama (13)
Mizzou
#3LSU
Mizzou (1) Alabama
#4Mizzou (1)LSULSU
#5TexasTexasPenn State
#6Penn State
Penn StateTexas
#7Texas Tech
Texas TechTexas Tech
#8BYUUSCBYU
#9USCBYUFlorida
#10South Florida
GeorgiaGeorgia
#11GeorgiaFloridaUSC
#12FloridaOhio State
Ohio State
#13AuburnVanderbiltBoise State
#14Ohio StateUtahKansas
#15UtahBoise State
Vanderbilt
#16KansasKansasAuburn
#17Boise State
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
#18WisconsinVirginia Tech
Utah
#19VanderbiltSouth Florida
South Florida
#20Virginia Tech
Auburn
Virginia Tech
#21Oklahoma State
Wake Forest
Illinois
#22Fresno State
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
#23OregonMichigan State
Ball State
#24UConnPittsburghMichigan State
#25Wake Forest
Ball State
North Carolina


Falling out of the AP Top 25: Wisconsin, Fresno State, Oregon, UConn
Falling out of my Top 25: Fresno State, Oregon, UConn

Newly ranked teams in the AP: North Carolina, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Ball State
AP Biggest gain within ranking: Alabama (8 --> 2)
AP Biggest gain into ranking: Pittsburgh (0 votes --> 24)
AP Biggest loss within ranking: South Florida (10 --> 19)
AP Biggest loss out of ranking: UConn (24 --> 0 votes)

Followers

 
free-website-hit-counters.com
free hit counter code