College Basketball Power Rankings: December 19

     We entered last week excited about a Top 10 matchup between the Florida Gators and Arizona Wildcats but the Butler Bulldogs stole the headlines with their upset of the Indiana Hoosiers in overtime.  I expected that game to be highly contested but was definitely surprised to see Butler win and they showed us again that you never can count this scrappy team out.  Here are the top 15.

1. Duke Blue Devils (9-0, Last Week 1) - Duke is now the #1 team without debate after Indiana's loss and looks forward to playing their first game in 11 days against Cornell on Dec. 19 the first of a back to back with Elon.
2. Michigan Wolverines (11-0, Last Week 3) - John Beilein went against his old team, West Virginia, and handled them with ease.  Trey Burke is making a case for Player Of The Year after putting up 27 points, 8 assists, and 0 turnovers.  Next up, their neighbor, Eastern Michigan Eagles.
3. Syracuse Orange (10-0, Last Week 5) - Jim Boeheim recorded his 900th win on Monday making him the third coach in men's college basketball history to achieve that mark.  Michael Carter-Williams recorded his 5th straight double-double and is averaging 10.7 assists for the year.
4. Louisville Cardinals (9-1, Last Week 6) - They faced a 16-point first half deficit on the road at Memphis but scored 59 second half points to come out on top.  Now face two cupcakes before a matchup with Kentucky on Dec. 29.
5. Arizona Wildcats (9-0, Last Week 8) - After being down six with a minute left the Wildcats used three turnovers, a missed free throw, and a Mark Lyons lay-up to upset Florida at home.  This team is showing it's for real after a road win over Clemson on the road and now the Gators.
6. Indiana Hoosiers (9-1, Last Week 2) - Indiana ran into the upset minded Butler Bulldogs and couldn't hold their halftime lead.  Butler outplayed the Hoosiers down the stretch and won in OT.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1, Last Week 7) - They've been rolling opponents after their loss at Duke but this week brings the Kansas Jayhawks to Columbus.
8. Florida Gators (7-1, Last Week 4) - The Gators could not hold on late against Arizona and suffered their first loss of the season.  Good thing for them they next play 1-7 SE Louisiana before taking on Kansas State.
9. Kansas Jayhawks (9-1, Last Week 9) - Since their loss to Michigan State they have disposed of weaker competition very easily.  However, they travel this week to play another Big Ten team in Ohio State.
10. Illinois Fighting Illini (12-0, Last Week 10) - After a big win against Gonzaga, the Fighting Illini coasted past its next two opponents.  Now look forward to playing Missouri on the road.
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-1, Last Week 11) - Trevor Mbakwe could find his way back in the starting lineup soon after posting 14 points and 18 rebounds against North Dakota State.  Next up Lafayette before starting Big Ten play against Michigan State.
12. Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0, Last Week 12) - Cincy remains unbeaten and the best rounding team in the country.  This week they take on in state rival Xavier, let's hope another brawl doesn't break out.
13. Gonzaga Bulldogs (10-1, Last Week 13) - The Zags dropped after losing to Illinois but rebounded nicely with a 68-52 win over a decent Kansas State squad.
14. San Diego State Aztecs (9-1, Last Week 14) - SDSU took down rival San Diego by 16 behind Jamaal Franklin who leads the team with 18.6 ppg and 9.7 rpg.
15. Missouri Tigers (9-1, Last Week 15) - The Tigers share the rebounding lead with Cincinnati at 46.1 per game and this week host a tough Illinois team.

Biggest Jump - Arizona up 3
Biggest Drop - Indiana and Florida down 4

College Basketball Power Rankings: December 11

     Not too much happened this week as most of the top teams had easy blowouts but the marquee match-up was Illinois at Gonzaga which we saw the Fighting Illini take in an upset 85-74.  With the Zags being the only team to lose not much has changed but here are the top 15.

1. Duke Blue Devils (9-0, Last Week: 1) - Duke had a week off before handling Temple 90-67.  Now they wait until Dec. 19 to play Cornell giving them 2 games in 18 days.  Plenty of rest for Coach K's team.
2. Indiana Hoosiers (9-0, Last Week: 2) - After posting a 100-69 win over Central Connecticut St, the Hoosiers are in line to take on in state rival Butler on Dec 15 which will be their last real test before starting Big Ten Conference play on Dec 31.
3. Michigan Wolverines (9-0, Last Week: 3) - The Maize and Blue coasted to wins over Western Michigan and Arkansas bringing their hot start to 9-0.  But they have a game against John Beilein's old team West Virginia looming later this week in Madison Square Garden.
4. Florida Gators (7-0, Last Week: 5) - The Gators beat their rivals Florida State in football on the road then a week later embarrassed the FSU basketball team on the road again 72-47.  However, a top 10 match-up at Arizona will provide a tough test.
5. Syracuse Orange (8-0, Last Week: 4) - In three games last week the Orange average margin of victory was 39.6 points.  The Orange are rolling behind a balanced team that is 3rd in points, 1st in rebounding, and 6th in assists per game.
6. Louisville Cardinals (8-1, Last Week: 6) - Speaking of blowouts, Louisville won its last 2 games by 52 points.  Next up is a road meeting with Memphis.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1, Last Week: 7) - After an easy win over Long Beach St, the Buckeyes have a few more home snoozers before taking on Kansas next week.
8. Arizona Wildcats (7-0, Last Week: 9) - Arizona had a nice road win at Clemson 66-54 last week.  Now they'll have a week to prepare for a home showdown with the Florida Gators.
9. Kansas Jayhawks (7-1, Last Week: 10) - Rock Chalk Jayhawk cruised past Colorado 90-54 and welcome Belmont this week.
10. Illinois Fighting Illini (10-0, Last Week: 13) - The most surprising team keeps up the trend after upsetting Gonzaga in the Kennel last week behind the sharpshooting Brandon Paul's 35 points.  This week provides two easy match-ups before heading to Missouri next week.
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-1, Last Week: 11) - The Gophers breezed by USC 71-57 giving Tubby Smith his 500th career victory.
12. Cincinnati Bearcats (9-0, Last Week: 12) - Cincy has looked good all year and has kept it going against soft competition lately behind consistent offense and strong defense.
13. Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-1, Last Week: 8) - Dropping 5 spots after a tough loss at home to Illinois, the Zags will look to get back on their winning ways against Kansas State.
14. San Diego St Aztecs (7-1, Last Week: 15) - The Aztecs jumped out to an early lead against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos with Chase Tapley leading the way going 6-8 from deep.  Next up at rival San Diego Toreros.
15. Missouri Tigers (8-1, Last Week: NR) - Frank Haith's squad struggled against then #2 Louisville earlier this year but has hit its stride.  Laurence Bowers is back off an injury averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds while UConn transfer Alex Oriakhi is posting 11 points and 8 boards.

Dropping out of the Ranks: Georgetown Hoyas (7-1, Last Week: 14) - I can't figure this team out.  After looking good against Texas winning 64-41 they squeak by Towson 46-40 shooting 29% at home.

Biggest Jump - Illinois up 3
Biggest Drop - Gonzaga down 5

College Basketball Power Rankings: December 4

     Last week we saw four major conferences go head to head in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and the SEC-Big East Challenge.  The Big Ten-ACC games were the most anticipated headlined by Duke-Ohio State, which Duke came out on top 73-68.  After seeing the majority of the top 25 in action against quality opponents we learned a lot about what these teams have to offer.  Here are my top 15 College Basketball Power Rankings.

1. Duke Blue Devils (8-0) - With wins over then ranked #3 Kentucky, #2 Louisville, and #4 Ohio State it's hard not to put this team at the top.  Mason Plumlee is playing like a player of the year candidate averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds so it's hard to argue against Duke as the best team in the country.
2. Indiana Hoosiers (8-0) - It was hard for me to knock IU out of the top spot, especially after a 24-point blow out of North Carolina, so let's call them 1-B.  They are the nation's highest scoring team and their POY candidate Cody Zeller has had plenty of help from Victor Oladipo, Jordan Hulls, and Christian Watford as this is a balanced offensive attack.
3. Michigan Wolverines (7-0) - After winning the NIT Season Tip-Off the Wolverines followed it up with a solid win over North Carolina State.  Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. have improved from last year and the additions of Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas make this team the most talented perimeter team in the country.
4. Syracuse Orange (5-0) - The Orange have replaced Kris Joseph and Dion Waiters with the emergence of James Southerland and Michael Carter-Williams.  Southerland is a top sixth man averaging almost 17 points off the bench and Carter-Williams is stuffing the stat sheet posting 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and 3.7 steals per game.
5. Florida Gators (6-0) - Coming off a 33-point drubbing of Marquette, this balanced inside-outside team has won every game by double digits and an average of 25 points.  Their next two games, at rival Florida State and at Arizona will tell us how good they could be.
6. Louisville Cardinals (6-1) - After a 23-point win over then #13 Missouri and a five point loss to then #5 Duke, Rick Pitino's squad struggled to get a three point home win over Illinois State.  With Gorgui Dieng out with injury Louisville will rely even more on Peyton Siva and Russ Smith.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) - OSU took an eight point halftime lead at Duke but subsequently fell 73-68 after giving up 50 2nd half points.  Deshaun Thomas has filled in nicely after the departure of Jared Sullinger averaging 21 points and 6 rebounds.
8. Gonzaga Bulldogs (8-0) - The Zags have five players averaging double digits and lead the nation in field goal percentage as a team.  Their eight wins have been by an average of 28 points.
9. Arizona Wildcats (5-0) - They have been great on offense ranking 6th in points (85.2), 6th in assists (18.2), and 5th in field goal percentage (.523) in the nation.  But we don't get a good barometer for this team until December 15th when it hosts Florida.
10. Kansas Jayhawks (6-1) - Since an early three point loss to Michigan State, Kansas has looked good but against lesser competition.  They have a few more games at home before traveling to Columbus for a matchup with Ohio State.
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-1) - Rodney Williams is one of the best athletes in the country and with Trevor Mbakwe trying to work his way back from an ACL injury this team is on its way up.
12. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-0) - Cincy has been solid all year being lead by Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright.  They are dominating the glass ranking 3rd in the country in rebounding and doing it collectively as no player averages more than 6.4 per game.
13. Illinois Fighting Illini (8-0) - Starting the season unranked this team has recorded convincing double digit wins over USC, Butler, and Georgia Tech.  However, their game on December 8th at Gonzaga will tell us even more about them.
14. Georgetown Hoyas (5-1) - After taking the #1 Indiana Hoosiers to overtime on the road, this team caught everybody's attention.  Their 37-36 win over Tennessee raised some eyebrows again, but in a negative way.
15. San Diego State Aztecs (6-1) - SDSU opened the season with a 13-point loss to then #9 Syracuse.  Since then they have played well behind the leadership of Jamaal Franklin and Chase Tapley.

James Harden Makes Return To OKC

With tonight being the first meeting between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets since the James Harden-Kevin Martin deal I figured I'd bring it full circle.  It's still early in the season but each team and key players in the deal seemed to have established themselves.  Record wise not much has changed, the Thunder are still one of the top teams in the league at 11-4 while the Rockets are .500 (they finished 34-32 last year).

When the deal happened the Thunder had a bigger hole to fill, not just in the stat sheet but also with the chemistry of the team.  So far Martin has filled in nice statistically as Harden’s replacement.  Martin is averaging 15.7 points shooting 45 percent from the field, 49 percent from three and 94 percent from the line.  Last year for the Thunder, Harden averaged 16.8 points shooting 49 percent from the field, 39 percent from three and 84 from the line.  The Thunder as a team are averaging more points per game and giving up less than last season.  As for the chemistry, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were going to be the biggest factor as to welcoming Martin and they seemed to have used his style of play very well.  Both players have seen their scoring and shot attempts go down but assists go up.  The only spot Martin might lack where Harden thrived is taking over the scoring load when Westbrook and Durant were out of the game.  But, Thunder coach Scott Brooks has adjusted his game plan and has been able to keep his team a title contender.

In a previous post I posed the question “can James Harden be a #1?” and I would say he has shown flashes that he can be the leader of the Rockets, he just needs a little more help.  Right now Harden is fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 25.1 (only .8 behind his old teammate Durant).  We’ve seen his assists jump to 5.4 but also his turnovers to 4.1 while all his shooting percentages have gone down.  With Harden already coming in as a star the Rockets were going to be built around his style of play unlike Martin trying to fit in with the Thunder.  Houston brought in Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik with big contracts as well so they had three new starters to their lineup, which basically creates a whole new team.  But even with these new players the Rockets are in the same place they were last year, fighting for a playoff spot in the highly contested Western Conference.  If the Rockets want to become a playoff staple they will need to find better compliments to Harden than Lin and Chandler Parsons (Houston’s second leading scorer).

I still believe the Thunder came out on top in the trade.  I wouldn’t say Houston lost because they received a top three shooting guard in the NBA but so far Kevin Martin has fit in nicely with the Thunder.  Let’s not also forget that OKC gets two first round draft picks from Houston and a second rounder.  So the trade turned out good for the Rockets because they have a superstar to build a team around.  But the trade turned out great for the Thunder because they are still title contenders with the opportunity to get better through the draft, which OKC is known for doing.

5 Reasons Why The Lions Are Underperforming

     Last year the Detroit Lions went 10-6 making the playoffs for the first time since 1999.  Naturally the expectations for this season were going to be high assuming the young team will improve if not at least stay the same.  However, after ten games they are 4-6 and lost a pivotal game in which they were leading the Green Bay Packers until less than two minutes to go.  Playing in the tough NFC North, the Lions are in last place again, a spot we've seen them before.  With remaining games against Houston, Green Bay, Atlanta, and Chicago (a combined 32-8) it's safe to say Detroit is out of the playoff hunt.  But how did they get here?  How did they come in with so much realistic hope after making the playoffs only to disappoint once again?  I have 5 reasons why.

     5.  Poor Special Teams Play:  The Detroit Lions are the only team in the NFL to give up multiple Kickoff and Punt returns for touchdowns.  Oddly enough all of these returns came in back-to-back weeks against the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings with the Lions losing both games.  Not only have they given up big plays, they haven't had any themselves.  Detroit averages a NFL 2nd worst kickoff return average of 18.6 yards leading to bad starting field position.

     4.  Turnover Margin:  This year Detroit has the 3rd worst turnover margin in the league at -7.  With how much the Lions throw the ball you will have interceptions, but it's hard to explain eight fumbles in ten games.  The biggest difference though is they aren't getting the takeaways like they did last season where they were 3rd best in differential with an opportunistic defense creating 34 turnovers.  Overall the defense has played better, ranking 10th in total defense, but they haven't been able to get the ball back to the offense.

     3.  Matthew Stafford:  In his first full season in 2011, Stafford was very impressive throwing for over 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns.  However, in 2012 he has been mediocre with 12 TD's and 10 interceptions.  Stafford has been getting Calvin Johnson involved as he's on pace to have over 1,700 yards and his first 100 catch season, but Nate Burleson going down and the team leading the NFL in drops doesn't help Stafford's numbers, neither does his decision making.

     2.  Slow Starts:  For whatever reason the Lions just can't seem to have their offense ready at the start of games.  They are averaging only 3.1 points in the first quarter but a league best 12.1 in the fourth quarter.  This is supposed to be a high powered offense but can't get rolling until late which usually means they are losing at that point.  It's hard to win games when you are always playing from behind.

     1.  They Aren't As Good As We Thought:  Detroit made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, but how good was that team really?  Yes, the Lions won ten games a season ago but zero were against teams that finished with a winning record and only one made the playoffs (Denver, who finished 8-8).  The slow starts were a problem last year as well but the Lions had four second half double digit comebacks.  So far this year three of their four wins have been 4th quarter comebacks, but again, you can't consistently win playing from behind.  The defense this year is statistically better than 2011, but last year they had an uncharacteristically high amount of takeaways.  As for the offense, Stafford was the 4th quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 5,000 yards, to ask for a repeat performance is asking a lot.

     With 6 games left in the season the Lions are technically not out of the playoffs, but realistically you would have to assume so.  Until they can beat quality opponents they will always have a difficult time making the post-season.  Also, until they stop digging themselves early holes they will have a difficult time beating average teams.  This is still a young team with a lot of growing up to do and a lot of potential.  But for right now they seem headed for another losing season which reminds us of the same old Lions.

Michigan Basketball's Best Team Since Fab Five

     With the college basketball season only a week away this is the most excited I've been for Michigan basketball to start for as long as I can remember.  With the team entering the season ranked 5th in the country there is reason for excitement.  This is the best recruiting class the school has had since the Fab Five and are coming off their first Big Ten regular season championship since 1986 (even though they were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament).

     Michigan has three starters returning from last years squad, the most important has to be Trey Burke.  He has been named a preseason All-American and is arguably the best point guard in the country.  Burke thought about making the jump to the NBA but returned for his Sophomore year and with the loss of team leaders Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, Burke will be looked upon to be the leader in the locker room and on the court.  Tim Hardaway Jr. will also be back for his third year with the team.  He seemed to put too much pressure on himself last year to score as all of his shooting percentages went down from his Freshman season.  Hopefully with this recruiting class coming in they will take some of that pressure off his shoulders.  Lastly, Jordan Morgan will be back in the post for the Wolverines.  What I'm looking to get out of him this year are rebounds and hustle plays.  The thing that frustrates me that most about Morgan is that he plays below the rim more than I'd like.  Is it too much to ask for a big man that looks to dunk instead of laying it in?

     Now to the newcomers.  This recruiting class is headlined by Glenn Robinson III, big blue's highest rated player since LaVell Blanchard (Michigan's Mr. Basketball in 1999).  Robinson is a 6'6" athletic Small Forward that shot up the rankings during his Senior year of High School all the way to #18 overall.  Robinson will add offense help to Burke and Hardaway Jr. as a player who can create his own shot and break guys down off the dribble.  Originally, Mitch McGary was the coveted player of this class when he was ranked #2 in the nation at the time of his signing but unlike Robinson who moved up, McGary moved down 27th.  Although he fell I'm pumped to actually have a true big man but I'm interested to see how Beilein involves him in the offense.  I don't want him to be another Pittsnogle, that's not his game.  I want to see him be a bruiser inside that posts up and gives Michigan a consistent inside scoring presence.  What makes me nervous about McGary is that he has trouble going against players that are his size but more athletic.  I saw the game between McGary and Nerlens Noel, the #1 recruit headed to Kentucky, last year and Noel dominated the entire game.  The good thing for McGary is that he won't see too many players like that unless they make a deep run in the tournament.  Nik Stauskas is the third player ranked in ESPN's top 100 coming in this season.  Stauskas is a sniper from beyond the arc that will fill in for the loss of Douglass.  He is the typical recruit for Beilein as his teams are consistently close to the leaders in three-point attempts.  Rounding out the recruits are Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.

     Like I said, I can't remember the last time I've been this excited for Michigan basketball.  With a lineup of Burke, Hardaway Jr., Robinson III, Morgan, and McGary they have size and scoring options at multiple positions.  Do I think they are the 5th best in the country right now?  Probably not.  But I do know they have plenty of potential to prove they are deserving of the ranking and have their best opportunity for a Final Four run in the past 20 years.

Can James Harden Be A #1 Option?

     Late Saturday night while I was out watching the Tigers-Giants game 3 of the World Series and Michigan-Nebraska in college football came interesting news from the NBA.  James Harden, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets.  Like everybody else my first reaction was shock that the Thunder, who had a core of three superstars at age 24 or younger, would trade away one these players.  Instantly, I felt the Rockets had pulled off the robbery of arguably the leagues most coveted shooting guard.  Then I began to think about the entirety of this trade and began to change my opinion.  Here is the full breakdown of the trade.  Houston receives James Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, and Lazar Hayward.  OKC gets Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick.

     I was discussing the trade with a friend who made a great point.  He said, "with taking age into consideration there is no other shooting guard in the NBA today that I would trade James Harden for straight up."  And it's true!  I tried to come up with 5 other shooting guards and if you are looking for a long term player nobody compares to Harden, who is 23 and averaged 16.8 points per game last year.  Here is my list...

1. Kobe Bryant - Great career and some still think he's the best in the league but has played 16 years, is 34 years old and is said to be retiring when his contract is up in two years.
2. Dwyane Wade - Another player with a nice trophy case but turned 30 this year and required offseason knee surgery.  His numbers have also gone down the last three seasons.
3. Stephen Curry - At 24 he still has room to improve his career stats of 17 ppg, 47% FG, 44% 3PT, and 90% FT.  However, he has the terrible label of a "tweener" being an undersized 2 guard and with those numbers coming on a bad team it's tough to know his worth.
4. Andre Iguodala - In his prime at 28, can rebound and pass well for his position.  He also can defend multiple positions but can struggle scoring with an inconsistent jumpshot.
5. Joe Johnson - Involved in a big trade that sent him from the Atlanta Hawks to the Brooklyn Nets and is a proven scorer that has shown he can lead his team to the playoffs.  Not known to play much defense and at 31 is on the downside of his career.

     With that being said I believe the Thunder has come out on top of this trade.  Even though Harden has so much hype around him right now we still have a lot of questions to be answered.  The biggest one is can he lead a team as their number one option.  In OKC he formed a great "Big 3" with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but remember Harden was the third option.  Now he will be the go to guy drawing the attention of the other teams best perimeter defender so we still have to see if he can handle that role.  The guy to replace Harden from this trade is Kevin Martin.  A player that has averaged 20+ points in five seasons and that is the only thing the Thunder are going to ask him to do, score.  Martin has a stigma about him that he is not very coachable but this guy has only been on bad teams in Sacramento and Houston, players in those situations usually have a "I'mma get mine" mentality.  Coming to a winning team with a great coach like Scott Brooks could be what Martin needs to change his attitude and become a scoring threat that knows his role to help his team win.  To add in Jeremy Lamb, a lottery pick this year, and two more first-round picks the Thunder will have options to reload an already stellar young team.  Who knows, both first-round picks could each be in the lottery again.  The addition of Harden and Jeremy Lin (very overrated) to the Rockets this offseason don't make this team a lock for the playoffs by any means.

     The one aspect of the trade that concerns me about the Thunder is breaking up the great bond that Durant, Westbrook and Harden had formed.  They had fun on the court together and they made each other better.  You can't replace a player like James Harden and losing him may hurt the Thunder's chances of winning a title this year, but looking to the future I think they made good decision.  And with how OKC has been able to draft lately, they will take full advantage of the picks they received.  A lot of credit goes Thunder GM Sam Presti because he was able to unload a player that might not have been back with the team after this season and picked up key pieces in return.

Lions and Tigers and Lines Oh My!

     We are now 2 games into the World Series and the Detroit Tigers are down 0-2.  With the long layoff I honestly was not too confident in us taking game 1, even with Justin Verlander on the mound, as the stats show teams that sweep a championship series are at a disadvantage against a team that wins a game 7.  But honestly, can any more bad breaks go against the Tigers right now?  In game 1 Pablo Sandoval had the game of his life hitting 3 homeruns so, like Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said you just have to tip your hat to him.  However, the Giants scored their first 5 runs with 2 outs which included an RBI single by Marco Scutaro that bounced off third base, passed Miguel Cabrera and into left field.  That play continued the 3rd inning and lead to Kung Fu Panda (Sandoval) belting a 2-run homer that busted the game open.  In game 2 Doug Fister pitched great for Detroit, even after getting a line drive off the back of his head in the 2nd inning, but in the top of that inning Prince Fielder was gunned down at home trying to score from first on a Delmon Young double.  This is where the questioning of began.  All year Gene Lamont, Detroit's third base coach, has been scrutinized by Tigers fans on how he has managed base runners.  There are plenty of time he's told runners to stop at third when he should have sent them and vice versa, this was another one of those times.  Then the 7th inning came and with runners on first and second for the Giants, Gregor Blanco laid down a bunt that trickled down the foul line but stayed in play.  Question 2 then arose.  With no outs some feel that Leyland needed to bring the infield in to make a play at home, instead he kept them at double play depth (which they got) and gave up the first run of the game.  After the game Leyland said he did that in order to not give up more than one run in the inning.  Listen, this guy has been doing this a lot longer than most managers in the MLB so I will trust his reasoning and the bottom line is he got what he wanted out of a bases loaded, no out situation.  I think baseball coaches can be questioned more than any other sport because it's the only sport that fans know what the coach is calling.  Fans know and question everything.  Why did you put that pitcher in, why did you leave that one in so long, why did you play the infield back, why did you put that pinch runner in?  You don't hear that questioning in say football where the coach calls every play the offense runs.  I've never heard someone say "I can't believe he called a Play Action Hitch 'n Go when he should've called a Spider 3 Y Banana".  But where the Tigers are at a HUGE disadvantage are relief pitchers.  Both teams have strong starting rotations, but once you get to the 7th inning or later the Giants have the edge.  The guy that is supposed to be the Tigers closer, Jose Valverde, has an ERA of 30.38 this postseason and that pretty much speaks for itself.  So far this has been reminiscent of the 2006 World Series, which the Tigers ended up on the losing side.  In order for that to be different this year their offense is going to have to get to the starting pitching of San Fran early so that our relief pitching has the cushion to give up a few runs.  Game 3 is tonight with Anibal Sanchez facing Ryan Vogelsong, I look for the Tigers offense to come alive being back home at Comerica Park to make the series 1-2.

     Now onto my NFL picks for this weekend.  First let me say that I'm not someone that likes to take too much time analyzing trends when it comes to sports betting.  Don't get me wrong they are helpful and I do use them for guidance, but I'm not a professional and don't have enough time to make this kind of analysis that I found on covers.com...

Team A falls into a solid situation where we play against road teams where the line is +3 to -3 that are coming off two or more consecutive overs that are averaging between 23 and 27 ppg going up against an opponent that is allowing between 23 and 27 ppg. This situation is 24-5 ATS (82.8 percent) since 1983.

The first game is the San Diego Chargers (-3) at the Cleveland Browns.  That was the line opener and has gone back and forth from -1 all week.  One thing I like to look for are teams coming off of bye weeks, as the Chargers are doing.  Combine that with an ailing Trent Richardson for Cleveland that spells trouble for the Brownies, even with Phillip Rivers having 6 turnovers his last start.  Take San Diego.  The next game is Washington at Pittsburgh (-4.5).  The Redskins are 3-4 on the season and are giving up a ridiculous 328 passing yards per game, however they have RG3 and he alone will keep this game close until the end.  Take the Skins and the points.  Now let's look at Atlanta at Philadelphia (-3).  With both of these teams coming off of byes they each have had 2 weeks to prepare for each other.  The Falcons are the only undefeated team left in the NFL but had a close call their last game at home against the Raiders which they won 23-20.  As for the Eagles, Michael Vick has not been able to hold onto the ball this year as he's turned it over 11 times in 6 games.  Aside from an OT loss to the Lions, the Eagles have beaten 2 really good teams at home in the Giants and pre-injury Ravens.  I look for that trend to continue as the Eagles come out on top and rid the league of unbeaten teams.

     Finally, I want to touch on my teams, Michigan and the Lions.  The Wolverines face a tough test tonight traveling to Nebraska.  This game is big for both teams as the winner will have the edge to play for the Big Ten title at the end of the year.  I want to say that Michigan has turned the corner after their slow start and coming off an important home win against Sparty but this matchup makes me nervous.  A night game in Lincoln is never an easy situation and this is the first time the Wolverines have made this trip.  I want to say that I have faith in my team but being realistic I think Nebraska takes it, unfortunately.  As for the Lions, I'm happy to say I have tickets to the game (I knew working where I do was good for something!).  The Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson have struggled on the road (1-3) but they boast one of the leagues best defenses equipped with the biggest corners Calvin Johnson will see all year.  But, with Seattle's strength in the running game and our strength in rush defense I find it hard to see them moving the ball.  The question will be if the Lions can limit their turnovers and not give Seattle a short field to work with.  If they are able to do that i believe Detroit will come out on top in a game they desperately need if they want to keep any playoff hopes alive.