College Football Recruiting

Jadeveon Clowney is the guy that all the scouts are looking at. He is the #1 recruit in college football ESPNU Top 150. He will announce where he wants to go to college on February 14, his birthday. It looks like it is between Alabama and South Carolina to get this star. His quickness at DE makes it easy for him to get past anyone who is guarding him. All eyes will be watching him on his big day.

Weekend Encore

This weekend was thrilling, mostly in the college basketball world. On Saturday, 11 top 25 teams lost. Georgetown came into Philadelphia and knocked off the 7th ranked Villanova Wildcats. Louisville got a nice win on the road in 2/OT versus UCONN to patten up their resume. BYU got its second loss on the road at New Mexico despite Jimmer Fredette scoring 32 points. Sunday was just as crazy as Saturday. Duke lost by 15 to St. John's in the Garden. The Heat's Big Three came together in Oklahoma City as they got the win 108-103. In a rematch of the NBA Championship from last year, the Celtics and Lakers faced off at the Staples Center. The Celtics got a tough win on the road. In other news, Bubba Watson took the Farmers Insurance Open over Phil Mickelson. To wrap a crazy weekend up, the NFC got their third Pro Bowl win in the last four years.

Saturday Slate

After going 2-3 last week, I am back to redeem myself. Georgetown and Villanova square off. Georgetown's backcourt will give the Hoyas the edge. An underrated Louisville team has a tough test versus UCONN. Louisville will take it in dramatic fashion. Watch out for Rick Petino'scardinals to make a run in the Big East Tourney. At 9:00 on ESPNU, Missouri will get a big winover Texas. Kansas State will get a much needed victory over Kansas in the Allen Fieldhouse.
M Dog's Picks
Last Week: 2-3
Overall Record: 6-4

Mountain West Matchup

Tonight's matchup with San Diego State and BYU is the first time ever two Mountain West teams in the top 10 play each other. Jimmer Fredette and BYU will be hosting the undefeated, San Diego State Aztecs. Kawhi Leonard will be the man to watch. The last time two top ten teams played and were not in one of the six major conferences was in 2005 when #4 Memphis squared off with #8 Gonzaga. All eyes will be watching tonight when BYU and SDSU take the stage.

Tickets To Texas

At the end of the night, two teams will be named AFC and NFC Champions. In the NFC, it will be a very interesting matchup. They both have very tough defenses with a good linebacker core. The key is if James Starks can be productive on the ground for the Packers. The Packers will take it in the end. The X-factor will be the Packers secondary. In the AFC, the big matchup to watch is the Steelers run defense versus the Jets running game. The Jets defense cannot let Roethlisberger scramble in order to shut him down. Dustin Keller will be a game changer. The Jets will be back in the Super Bowl for the first time in 42 years. At the end of the day, two teams will be getting their tickets to the Lone Star State.

Upset Alert

Today a lot of the top teams in the nation have tough tests. Watch out for Demetri McCamey and Illinois to upset Ohio State at home. Kansas has a tough matchup with #11 Texas. Kansas will escape with a big win to patten up their resume. Syracuse and Villanova battle in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse will get back on track at home. The difference is, Kris Joseph will be active. Duke will get a decent win on the road versus Wake Forest. On primetime, Purdue will get a win over the struggling Spartans. A lot of questions will be answered today. Who is for real? Will anybody have enough talent to go undefeated? Hopefully, I can get some more luck after going 4-1 last week with my picks.

Friday Night Duo

Four of the best teams in the NBA are in action this Friday night. To start the night off, the Knicks square off in San Antonio with the Spurs. These two teams faced each other in the Garden earlier this season. The Knicks took it 128-115. Gregg Poppovich was not happy with his team's defense. In the end, the Spurs will get a big win to improve their record to 37-6. The Lakers and Nuggets will battle in Denver. This could be the last time the Carmelo Anthony plays the Lakers in a Nuggets uniform. Chauncey Billups will go off as he will lead the Nuggets to a victory. The stars will come out on this Friday night.

Part 3: Retirement

This year it came early. Usually the whole Favre fuss is in the late Spring early Summer. Well, since he didn't make the Playoffs, why should he have to wait. Earlier today, Brett Favre filed his retirement papers. So Favre's last image playing in the NFL is him getting slammed into the ground. Hopefully, Brett has had enough, because I know I have.

Showcase Saturday

Today so many teams can showcase their skills in college basketball. In Knoxville, the Volunteers will get a much needed win over Vanderbilt. Georgetown will end their 3 game losing streak as they face Rutgers. Villanova is on upset alert when they take on Maryland. San Diego State will get a win over New Mexico. The game that intrigues me the most is when Missouri and Texas A&M collide. Texas A&M will get a big win. They have been sliding under the radar. Watch out for them to be a dark horse when the tournament comes around. We are almost halfway through the season. Teams need to improve their game if they want to be contenders.

Race to Dallas

This weekend has some of the best playoff matchups you will see in a long time. To start out the weekend, the Ravens will go into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers by two in a defensive battle. On Saturday night, the Packers face-off with the Falcons in Atlanta. Matty Ice is 20-2 at home in the Georgia Dome. The Packers explosive offense will come up big as Green Bay will move on, though. On Sunday, the Bears will get revenge on the Seahawks. The final score will be 23-16. To end off this great weekend, the Patriots will come out on top over the Jets. Sanchez does not play well in bad weather. In the end, the Pats will take it 27-23. The race is heating up to get to Dallas.

It Always Comes Back to Haunt You

Minutes after the Cavaliers embarrassing loss on Tuesday night, Lebron James went a little too far after tweeting all this stuff about karma and how it comes back to haunt you. He did not give a specific name of who he was talking about. It would make most sense if he was talking to Dan Gilbert. Well, he was right, karma does come back to haunt you. Last night, the Heat's 13 game win streak was snapped when they went to LA to play the Blake Griffin's Clippers. James was right: karma always comes back to haunt you.

Party in Glendale

Auburn was partying in Glendale last night after their thrilling victory over Oregon. Each offense started out slow. By the end of the 1st quarter, there had been 3 turnovers. I thought the offenses would be outstanding. The play of the game goes to Michael Dyer after he had a huge rush that set up the Tigers. His arm or knee clearly never touched the ground. A big play that factored into the game was when Cliff Harris was going for his second INT. He got his left foot in, but he bobbled it at the end. Once he regained possession he got his arm down. They reviewed the play, but it was not conclusive evidence. Auburn and oregon only combined for 41 points. At the end of the night, it did not matter how many combined points were scored, Auburn was the team on top.

PAC 10 Gets Another

Today is the day. After all the hard work and practice, today is when the two best square off in the desert. Tonight the whole city of Glendale, AZ will be roaring as Cam Newton and Auburn meet up with LaMichael James and Oregon. Auburn's big offense collides with Oregon's quick defense. Oregon will have to contain Nick Fairley for 4 quarters. Casey Matthews, younger brother to Clay Matthews, will be a monster at the linebacker position. At the end of the day, Oregon will hoist the BCS National Championship trophy. Oregon is truly the best team in college football. When the night turns to day, Oregon will be partying back in Eugene, Oregon.

Playoff Picks

Today is the day that we have all been waiting for. The Playoffs have begun! To start it off, at 4:30 the Saints will fly into Seattle and get a tough road win. The Saints defense will win the game along with Reggie Bush. Seattle will show up, but end up losing 16-13. At 8:00 the Jets and Colts battle in Indy. Manning has much more experience than the Jets overrated defense. Watch out for Pierre Garcon as he will be Manning's main target. Baltimore has to go into Kansas City. The Chiefs are 7-1 at home, their only loss coming to the Raiders. I like Baltimore with their experienced defense and their running game. Dwayne Bowe will play great, but not great enough to get the win. To end the Wild Card Sunday, the Packers defense will be the first team all year to stop Michael Vick. Charles Woodson will shut down Desean Jackson. Just to add on to the Packers defense, a great offense. In the end, I like the Packers 27-20. Have a great Wild Card Weekend!

It's About Time

Michigan coach, Rich Rodriguez just got fired. He just finished his best season at 7-6. That is clearly not enough. He has an 0-6 record versus Michigan's arch rivals, Michigan State and Ohio State. Michigan has been outscored by Ohio State 100-24 under Rich Rodriguez. A lot is buzzing in the Big Ten considering after Ohio State's scandals and their bad Bowl Season.

Big Boys

Over this weekend there were two BCS Bowls which showcased two teams from major conferences and others from minor conferences. TCU got a win for the Mountain West as they won the "Grandaddy of Them All." Wisconsin missed a crucial two-point conversion under two minutes left. Andy Dalton and TCU got a huge win for Non-AQ Conferences. Brett Billema had a disappointing ending to their great season. In the Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma ended their BCS Bowl game losing streak as they showed that a team with 4 losses should not be in a BCS Bowl. UCONN had four losses coming into this game and came out with 5. Tonight, down in Miami, Stanford faces off with VA Tech. Tech has won 11 games straight after losing to Boise State and James Madison. It is a battle of two great Quarterbacks. All eyes will be watching when Stanford and Virginia Tech take the field.

Postseason Playout

It is finally here! The Postseason is back. The Packers clinched the 6 seed in the NFC after they beat the Bears to keep Big Blue out of the Playoffs. The Seahawks took the NFC West last night over the Rams even though they only have 7 wins. They will take on the Saints. Let me just tell you, Seattle is dangerous. I mean they are at home and their crowd is one of the loudest in the NFL. I am sticking with my Super Bowl prediction. In the end Aaron Rogers and the Packers will take on the hard-hitting Ravens. Tune in on Friday for my picks for the first round.