This Sunday, I woke up ready for football. I had my picks in, my fantasy lineups set, and the added bonus of having my team (New England) playing on Sunday night, giving me full range of motion on the NFL Sunday Ticket.
Twelve hours later, I was checking out college basketball schedules, trying to figure out if I really thought Mustafa Shakur could lead the Arizona Wildcats to the Final Four.
What the hell happened?
***
Indianapolis 27, New England 20: The Pats got shown up at home by the Colts for the second straight year. Tom Brady looked like Rex Grossman, and (I hate to say it) the Pats just got out-coached. Rodney Harrison got hurt, the Pats didn't run the ball enough, Corey Dillon looked old, and the rookie kicker looked anything but capable of replacing the greatest clutch kicker of all-time.
Oh, and can we make a rule that it's cruel and unusual to have to watch a player carve up your defense, then star in two out of every three commercials? I mean, come on! How much money does the jerk need?
Add to it all that my wife figured out our newborn son is named after Adam Vinatieri (not a great conversation), and I went to bed with a serious football hangover. I just needed a break, didn't even watch a single play in the Seahawks/Raiders game (though I did see the knee-to-the-balls replay, that was nice).
One quick note on the Colts before I go on:
The Colts have the most prolific offensive machine this side of the 2001 Rams, but it would be a historic upset for a defense this bad to even make the championship game, let alone win it.
To wit:
No team allowing more than five yards per attempt on the ground has ever even made the Super Bowl. The Colts are at 5.3.
The Colts' defense is on pace for only 22 sacks. That would be the lowest total ever for a Super Bowl participant.
The Colts allow an amazing 64.4% completion rate for opposing quarterbacks. That would be the worst for any team making the Super Bowl.
The Colts defense, as currently constituted, would be the worst ever to play in the Super Bowl. I'm not saying the Pats are going to make it instead, but don't let the Peyton sheen blind you to the very rotten inner core of this team. You don't win championships with horrible defense. It just doesn't happen.
***
Anyway, I woke up Monday with bronchitis, had to go to work anyway, scramble to make a deadline with a vicious cough, and was just worn out.
And then, on Tuesday, a shining light from my computer, courtesy ESPN.com: “UNC's Hansbrough heads AP preseason All-Americans.”
If the NFL is 1 (and it still is, no matter how bitter I get), NCAA hoops is an oh-so-close 1a.
A little background: I'm from Rhode Island. In high school, I would stay up to watch the late broadcasts of Pac-10 games from the west coast. I watched Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves bombing three-pointers, Reggie Geary and Ray Owes giving up their bodies, big guys like Joe Blair running the floor (which I was not used to seeing in the Big East, which was still using the six-fouls-per-game rule). Lute Olson became my icon, and Pac-10 basketball my new passion.
I decided to go to Arizona, eschewing my early decision entry into Syracuse. I became a journalism major so I could get a job at the Arizona Daily Wildcat (school paper), then covered the women's basketball team for a season before moving on to the men.
In the preseason before the 1999-2000 season, I got to sit in Olson's office for a one-on-one interview, talking about his incoming freshman class that included Luke Walton and Richard Jefferson. I turn to my right and see the 1997 championship trophy, with the net he cut down hanging over it. I completely lost my train of thought, blanked, and just stared at Olson. He smiled and went on talking, told me he thought Walton would turn out to be the most complete player in the class. Top five coolest moment in my life.
The Pats/Colts game still stings, mind you. I'm not jumping off the NFL just because college basketball has come around. But somehow knowing I'm only days away from seeing Olson and long-time assistant Jim Rosborough lead a new crop of young players makes it just a little bit better (Chase Budinger, Pac-10 Freshman of the Year — write it down).
***
So I delve into the All-America story and realize there's not a single player from the Big East, Big 10, or Pac-10 on the first team (they don't have second and third teams in the preseason). The team is composed of three players from the SEC (Joakim Noah, Ronald Steele, Glen Davis), one from the ACC (Hansbrough), and one from the Big 12 (Brandon Rush). There's a lot to happen between now and March Madness, but I guarantee you this: at least one Big East, Big 10, or Pac-10 player will make first-team All-American.
In the Big 10, Wisconsin's Alando Tucker (the Big 10 Preseason Player of the Year) leads a conference that has undergone major transformations since last season, but that nonetheless may sneak in as many as eight teams in the 2007 NCAA tournament. And if you believe the pack of recruiters/scouts/leeches who have been hanging around Greg Oden since he started walking, he may just lead Ohio State to the Final Four, win the Big 10 Player of the Year award, make first team All-American, make a sex tape with Paris Hilton, walk on water, then take over for David Stern as commissioner of the NBA.
From the Pac-10, UCLA guard Arron Afflalo (the top vote getter who didn't make the preseason list) is the most obvious choice, but don't sleep on Washington sophomore forward Jon Brockman. Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar knows how to feature his best player (see: Roy, Brandon), and Brockman has the size, quickness, and aggression to become a 20-10 guy this season. Watch out also for Marcus Williams of Arizona.
In the Big East, there is a drop from the star-studded cast of 2006, though with 56 teams in the conference, there's bound to be a star in the making somewhere. Of the players who have already built a name, I could see Pittsburgh center Aaron Gray, the conference preseason POY, getting some national buzz. Another great story would be if Villanova senior forward Curtis Sumpter, who passed up a chance to make a run for the title last season so he could preserve his final year of eligibility, put together a good season.
There are some other players in the ranks of the mid-majors who might merit some consideration, Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Brandon Heath (San Diego State), and Jamaal Tatum (Southern Illinois) among them, but I don't see them climbing into the top five nationally. (Now the Final Four, that's another question...)
So who makes the 2006-2007 All-America squads?
First team:
Brandon Rush, G, Kansas
Acie Law, G, Texas A&M
Glen Davis, F, LSU
Tyler Hansbrough, F, North Carolina
Jon Brockman, F, Washington
Second team:
Reggie Roby, G, Colorado
Ronald Steele, G, Alabama
Nick Fazekas, F, Nevada
Al Thornton, F, Florida State
Joakim Noah, F, Florida
Third team:
Brandon Heath, G, San Diego State
Chris Lofton, G, Tennessee
Marcus Williams, G-F, Arizona
Josh McRoberts, F-C, Duke
Jared Dudley, F, Boston College
College basketball is back, and it's just what I needed. Now if we can just somehow get Peyton Manning to choke in the playoffs...
Seth Doria is a freelance writer based out of St. Louis, MO. His weekly NFL picks and daily NCAA men's basketball picks can be found at The Left Calf.
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