Petek projects this January's BCS bowlers

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We're halfway to bowl season, and it's time for Justin "Check, Please" Petek, resident Cheesehead, to gaze into his crystal ball and tell us who will be playing in which BCS bowl. Have at it, JP.

National Championship Game: Oregon Ducks vs. Texas Christian Horned Frogs

Oregon looks like a steamroller in the west. Hide your kids, hide your wife, cuz they’re beating everyone out there. The Ducks don’t have an easy path with road games at USC and bitter rival Oregon State, but they could win at Chuck Norris U. the way they are playing.

I project TCU to finish undefeated and use a high-quality road win at Utah to surpass undefeated Boise State and 1-loss Alabama to make the title game. This could come down to the thousandths place.

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Boise State Broncos

Wisconsin will land in the Rose Bowl as Big Ten champions via the head-to-head tiebreaker with Ohio State, who could also land here if Michigan State finishes 11-1.

After deep contemplation, the Rose Bowl will select Boise State with its at-large bid. They will not be obligated to the Broncos, since automatic-qualifier TCU is in the title game. An all-Big Ten Rose Bowl with Ohio State will tempt them, as will 1-loss Auburn, but Boise State’s undefeated record, high ranking, western location, and capable fan base will prevail.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

Alabama will valiantly climb the rankings and challenge for a national championship game spot, but ultimately fall short and head to New Orleans as 1-loss SEC champion after defeating Auburn and then Florida in the SEC Championship.

Ohio State will finish strong with one loss and get the at-large nod from the Sugar Bowl and another crack at a strong SEC opponent. Michigan State or Wisconsin could also land here if Ohio State wins a 3-way tie.

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

Oklahoma will represent the Big 12 in the Fiesta Bowl after a hard-fought win over Nebraska in the conference title game.

Pittsburgh will land in Arizona as Big East champion, followed by a trail of profanities from the likes of Missouri, Utah, and Stanford, sparking a debate about the merit of automatic qualifier by conference.

Orange Bowl: Florida State Seminoles vs. Auburn Tigers

Florida State will be headed down to Miami as ACC champions.

Auburn will carry their #1 ranking all the way to Tuscaloosa, where they will fall, but remain a very attractive at-large selection for the Orange Bowl.

Why the Sooners will Win the National Championship

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Editor's Note: AJ did not write this. B-dubs did, as part of his grand comeback tour.

I think my Oklahoma Sooners will win the National Championship because...their defense will be dominant just as it was back in 2000. Returning 9 of 11 defensive starters and its entire dominant front seven, Oklahoma will shut down defenses week in and week out. Combine this with the fact that they have a Heisman Trophy winner at QB and two returning 1,000 yard rushers... it creates a monster.

Sure, the O-line only has one returning starter. Sure, the special teams may be an issue again. But OU won't need to score 40 a game this year because of the defense (but they will average over 30 pts/gm).

Bring on Florida. Bring on Tejas. The Sooners are ready for another championship run.

Stay classy,
B-dubs

News and Views

Williams sisters to meet in Wimbledon final
Mr Williams: "Ok Venus, you already have 5 titles... lets let Serena win #3."

Shaq's Cavs plan: 'Win a ring for the King'
Ice those knees Shaq daddy... and we only need to see you for 30ish regular season games.

NASCAR owners balk at hiring Mayfield to race
Just going to be honest... I don't give a flip about NASCAR.

Gordon says Bulls never made him an offer
Really Ben? Don't cry and make this about Chi-town stiffing you. It's a recession, maybe they couldn't afford what you were going to ask.

Jets' Pace suspended 4 games for drug violation
Ya... totally buying that it was a supplement he "did not know violated the policy." Puhhhlease

Kim fires 62, sets record at AT&T In progress
Would love to see an AK vs. TW back 9 on Sunday.


Top Cuban pitching prospect Chapman defects
Charlie Steiner: "Follow me... follow me to Freedom!!!"

Donovan rips MLS teammate Beckham in book
Rightfully so, Donovan should be a role model with his work ethic. He was a beast in the Confederation Cup.

Thriller or Bad? CFL reviews player's MJ 'tribute'
Pretending to be buried???! Why not just go with a good ole' fashion Moonwalk?

Insider: The Longhorns' path to Pasadena
Gotta get through my Sooners... which won't happen this year. Why does ESPN focus on a championship run and have next to ZERO coverage of UT's star DE leaving the scene from a sure-fire DUI where he could have killed someone? If this happened to an Oklahoma player... its all over Sportscenter.

Have a safe and fantastic July 4th weekend.

Now excuse me why I start off the weekend celebration with a beer and watching Will Smith kill aliens.

Stay classy,

B-Dubs

Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays

The first Tribute installment of Mile High Musings, for the final Monday of March Madness...

• I wake up this morning, cook my usual breakfast of cereal (Lucky Charms today. For those who care, they were magically delicious.) and flip on SportsCenter before I head to Monday morning class. I figure it'll be a quality show; we just finished with the Elite Eight, with some great games (Pitt-Nova and State-L'Ville) and enjoyable storylines (Spartans get home court, Tar Heels and Huskies clicking on all cylinders, Blake Griffin coming up juuuuuust short). The NBA conference races are heating up, and Opening Day (or Christmas come early, as some like to call it) is just around the corner. Oh, and that golfer guy that used to be good did something good yesterday. Rawr.
  
  
• But instead, I'm watching full-blown coverage of Kentucky Head Coach Watch: Day 37. Now they're saying Memphis boss John Calipari might - might! - be interested in the gig. (Since when are People Magazine gossip writers doubling as ESPN producers? Oh, wait, forever...that's right.) They've brought in three consecutive talking heads (Dickie V, Steve Lavin and a writer from the Lexington paper) to speculate: "how would Coach Cal fit in at Kentucky?"



• I turn to my roommate Justin, and boldly predict: "The moment Calipari agrees to work at Kentucky, the coverage will shift to, 'how will Coach Cal fit in at Kentucky?', and SportsCenter will basically reuse the same scripts again because they think we're idiots." To this, Justin nodded.



• Or maybe he was just nodding off*. All this Kentucky talk - you know, discussing the future of a program that, uh, hasn't made a Final Four in a decade - was putting this tried-and-true college basketball fan to sleep.
  *not actually my roommate, but sort of resembles him after a long night of Grand Marnier
  
  
• Sure enough, sources say Kentucky is working on an eight-year deal for Mr. "Free Throws Don't Matter" himself. It's a good move for him; he's accomplished everything he could at Memphis, and now gets a chance to show he can do it consistently in the big boy conference.
  


• I just didn't need to hear it 89 times today, ESPN. We got it. Especially with everything else going on in sports right now.
  


• If you hadn't had a chance to catch B-dubs' eugoogoly on the 08-09 Sooners, it's a great read, even if you don't bleed cream and crimson.



• Here's my personal eugoogoly of the Badgers' season: They came. They started. They did not finish. And thus, they did not conquer.



• Anything else you needed to know?



• First and only fantasy baseball draft of the year is Sunday. I had four football drafts last fall, and spent approximately 68 hours slaving over big boards and draft lists.



• Which is approximately 68 hours more than I've spent on the baseball draft.

• And it's an auction draft. Never been in one of those. We'll see how it goes, but I got a feeling I'm gonna end up being a worse GM than Chris Wallace.



• Sounds like somebody took Jay Cutler's pacifier away from him. They also took 100,000 grand from his wallet today for missing 10 days of workouts.



• I still think he'll be a Bronco on Opening Day in September. Not wishful thinking, just looking at it objectively.



• Because if he does get traded, and Denver doesn't get equal value, Josh McDaniels' stay in the Mile High City will be quicker than Antonio McDyess' third tour of duty.



• Speaking of which - and not to squeeze sour grapes on this magical Nuggets season - if Dice stays a Nugget, then LA's got some company up there on its lofty perch. Too bad.



• Believe it or not: Birdman > Marcus Camby. Ya heard me.



• I was close to tears the night Denver gave away Marcus for an expired grocery coupon. Wanted to throw away my Nuggets allegiance. But while the Chauncey trade officially turned things around, and rightfully got the pub for doing so, it's the addition of Chris Andersen that pushed Denver over the top. He's got the same defensive presence and a little bit more energy, for less than 10 percent of the price.



• That all being said, I'm still scared you-know-whatless of playing Utah in the first round and getting knocked out AGAIN before the playoffs really get started.



• Oh, wait...just saw that Utah is 1-14 on the road against winning teams this season. And they nearly blew second-half leads of more than 20 points in their last two home games, to less-than-awe-inspiring Phoenix and New York. Never mind.
  
  
• Apparently, Andrew "Out 8-12 weeks with a knee" Bynum is back in action, scoring left and right once again. But not for the Lakers.
  
  
• The Los Angeles big man, who was hurt on Jan. 31 and was hoping to be back before the end of March, was seen clubbing it at the Playboy Mansion over the weekend. Bynum was allegedly hoisting up models on his shoulders, jumping velvet ropes and playing the life of the party, doing everything but doing a cannonball into Hef's pool.
  
  
• I got no problem with mackin' on Playmates any chance you get. But seriously, man, can't it wait til' the end of the season? Way to support your teammates and get back out on that court for a few garbage games before the playoffs start.
  
  
• But hey, any friend of Nuggets Finals chances is a friend of mine. And we share initials. Attaboy, AB.
  


• Obligatory "Heroes" update of the week: Sylar's been quiet this season. With the new skill he just acquired, though, I'd say he's about to become Comeback Bad Dude of the Year. The good guys are in BIG trouble...as is Danko. I give him two, maybe three, more weeks of life.



• LATER THIS WEEK: A scintillating nomination for TNEA of the Week (Wednesday; hot babe alert!), B-dubs' Immediate Reactions (Thursday), and our Preseason MLB Power Rankinsg (TBD), final thoughts on the overall seasons of Wisconsin and Oklahoma sports (TBD) and Final Four stuff throughout the weekend.

Have a good one.

-AJ

Oklahoma Sooner Men's Basketball: Eulogy for the 2008-2009 Season

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There were some expectations.... some.

The Sooners only lost two seniors from the previous season in which they bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the 2nd round as a 6-seed.

The Big-12 was down. National champion Kansas lost over half-a-dozen players. Texas lost its best player and leader of the team. Kansas State lost Michael Beasley... which was their team. The Big-12 was ready for the taking.

There were questions, however. Was Blake Griffin ready to step up and be the leader and rock that the team needed? Was the guard play good enough to take the team deep into the tournament? Was freshman Willie Warren going to ruin the team chemistry with his selfish play?

The questions were answered. All points pointed to this Oklahoma Sooner team being something special. In Jeff Capel's third year in Norman... Sooner basketball was back and Oklahoma was primed for a title run. They ran through non-conference play with only one hiccup on the road at Arkansas. Then started Big-12 play 11-0. Oklahoma was #2 in the country and primed to take over number one as they headed to Austin to play an overmatched Horns team.

But then the unthinkable happened.

The, now hands down, best player in the country, Blake Griffin, got popped in the head by an sweeping elbow and was knocked out the the game. Concussions are a scary thing, and it was disturbing to see how "Out of it" Blake was during that game and the next on the bench.

Blake "The Behemoth" Griffin (nicknamed by AJ) returned after a week and the Sooners won against Texas Tech. The team chemistry, however, seemed shaky. The Sooners finished the season with 3 wins and 2 losses including a quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma State in the Big-12 tournament. All of the question marks returned. It was evident that the Oklahoma guards were not playing well enough to support Mr. Griffin for a tournament run.

Then, Jeff Capel pulled his team together. After struggling down the stretch, OU came out strong against Morgan State... but it is Morgan State.

An impressive and dominant 2nd half against Michigan sold me on the fact that this team was back on track and in mid-season form. Then came the mighty Orangemen. I thought it would be a dog fight and prayed that the Sooners would prevail. However, it seemed that the Crimson and Cream were the only players in the gym on Friday night. Syracuse couldn't hit a shot and OU couldn't miss one. Tony Crocker had the game of his life, and OU prevailed with ease. The only thing trying to stop OU and especially Blake Griffin, was the side of the backboard trying to attack Blake's forehead.

Then came the Tar Heels. Everyone in the country knew that the Sooners were overmatched at most positions. Even the great Tyler Hansbrough was going to at least contain BG23. Nay. Blake had his way with that wide-eyed school boy. Unfortunately for "The Behemoth," he was the only Sooner that remembered how to play basketball. Defensively OU played UNC quite well. The problem was the Oklahoma guards couldn't throw a marble into the Pacific Ocean. The team started 0-16 from the land of treys. That will not win you ball games. The sad thing is, if OU hit 25% from the land of treys... they are in the basketball game if not sending the game to an extra period.

In the end, before we bury this team, let's reflect on the great moments we had together and the pitfalls.

-Holding off Davidson's late charge and seeing Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry on the same court was a sight to behold.
-Beating Purdue to win the Pre-season NIT.
-Losing to Arkansas... a terrible team.
-Beating arch nemesis Texas by 15 pts in the first Big-12 home game. First win against Texas in about 5 years.
-Going to Stillwater and winning is always fun.
-Blake's 40 and 23 in only 31 minutes against Tech.
-Watching Blake go down in the Texas game.
-Watching the comeback against Kansas without Blake, and being crushed by the loss.
-Getting dismantled by Mizzou on the road.

-Holding off OSU for my last home game. Willie, I will never forget your 25-footer that sealed the game.
-Disappointed after landing in Boston and seeing we lost to OSU in the quarters of the Big-12.
-The first three rounds of the tournament were fantastic and exciting, especially the Syracuse game.
-Knowing we would lose, but hoping against UNC.

A few last words.

I will miss the Griffin brothers. Taylor Griffin was so underrated as a Sooner. He was awesome to watch and showed real heart in his final season. I will miss so much looking forward to Sportscenter's top-10 because it was guaranteed I would see at least two Blake Griffin plays. Blake... you are an animal and you will be missed.

Here is to you not playing for the Clippers next year...

and to the 2008-2009 Sooners.... may you rest in peace.