Here is my 16-17 College Basketball preview

The 2016-17 college basketball season is finally among us. After months of worrying about recruiting, hyping up traditional powers, and UNC fans grieving we have finally arrived to another college basketball year that is due to be filled with more great moments and heartbreaking losses. NCAA basketball has held and always will hold a special place in my fandom of sports. The parody that exists in basketball is what makes it my favorite sport. The early season upsets or the mid season number one team going down or the 15, 14, 13 seeds knocking off the higher seeds in the tourney. All provide great entertainment.
This season opens up like always, the traditional powers like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, Michigan State, and Indiana all are at or near the top of the food chain. While teams like Oregon and Villanova have built themselves into promising programs looking to continue to knock off the longstanding powers in college basketball.

Here is your current top 25 after 1-2 games played by every team.
Duke
UK
Kansas
Villanova
Oregon
UNC
Xavier
UVA
Wisconsin
Arizona
Indiana
Michigan State
Louisville
Gonzaga
Purdue
UCLA
Saint Mary's
UConn
Syracuse
WVU
Texas
Creighton
Rhode Island
Iowa State
Maryland

A pretty fair assessment for the state of the college basketball world going into the season. However there have already losses by a few of these teams. Kansas and Michigan State went down to the wire with Indiana and Arizona respectively. Both were great games that came down to all four teams having a chance to win. UConn was upset by Wagner in their opening game so they are a team to keep an eye on as one who might've been ranked too high going into the year. Texas was tested as well, but was able to sneak out with a win in their first game.
How about some predictions? We all love to predict way too early so why not?

ACC: Duke should win the regular season and tournament titles on paper and I believe the paper is correct. They won't be unblemished going into the NCAA tournament because they have some tough matchups early on and they are not at full strength right now. Also the ACC is pretty darn good this year so teams like UNC, UVA, Louisville, Florida State, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech could play spoiler on a couple matchups. I don't see them having more than 4-5 losses and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with less than that. The ACC will have 1 if not two All American team members come from their league with a chance of more. I see 8-9 teams getting in the NCAA tournament this year. I believe teams like Florida State, Norte Dame,  NC State, and Virginia Tech all have a shot to make it this year. All improved outside of maybe ND but I can't bet against Mike Brey.

Big Ten: The ACC and Big Ten are the best conference and I don't think it's close. Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, and Purdue are all loaded at the top much like the top four in the ACC. I believe Indiana or Purdue will come out as the winner of the Big Ten. It's so hard for me to call because I think all four have a chance to get hot and win. Indiana looked great in their win over Kansas. They shot extremely well and have a big man inside to protect the rim and balance be scoring. Purdue is the most slept on of the four and I love Matt Painter. I think Purdue was overhyped last year and was able to get a lot of pieces from last year back as well as adding some. They are huge inside and have solid guards. I think they pose the toughest matchups for the other contending teams in the Big Ten. Gun held to my head today I'm picking Indiana. The Big Ten will have 8-9 teams as well make the tournament, just like the ACC they could possibly have more.

Big 12: This isn't too hard. The Big 12 title runs through Lawrence, Kansas. This conference is similar to the SEC in football. The SEC had absolute dominance in football whereas Kansas has usually been the dominant team with few titles in recent history. However there is often a lot of Big 12 teams picked each year to be true contenders yet it always ends up being Kansas. I believe West Virginia will be the biggest threat to KU this year. They have a good amount of their team returning and who doesn't love Bob Huggins? Their style of play gives Kansas fits as well. Especially with Kansas being a little undersized than we are accustomed to seeing them. Losing 8 year vet Perry Ellis will be something that Kansas will have to figure out, but Bill Self will, he always does. I see 7-8 teams getting in to the big dance.

SEC: Kentucky. Florida and Georgia are  improved, Miss State and Alabama are as well but this is a bad basketball conference. I believe they have already engraved the conference title trophy with Kentucky as well. UK has a guard heavy team but the talent is next level good. The Wildcats should be in the Final Four as long as they play to their potential. I see 3-5 teams making it out of the SEC.

PAC 12: I predict a three team race for the PAC 12 title. Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA all have fire power. All three teams can run it up on the scoreboard. Oregon presents so many matchup problems for teams because they are big and capable of taking their man off the dribble. Very quick team on defense as well. Oregon is my pick to win the conference and end up with a number one seed, but Arizona winning would not be surprising. Arizona has underachieved every year since their upset of Duke a couple years back. Just an opinion of mine. I don't see the development of players that have so much talent coming in. I see 6-7 teams getting in the tourney.

My way too early Final Four is Villanova, Duke, Oregon, Kentucky. Kind of boring I know.
Duke wins it all. (You have no idea how bad this hurts to say),
Enjoy the season!

Time to be honest, the Dallas Cowboys are good

This hurts. I'm almost in a state of depression because of it. I honestly can't believe I'm admitting it, but the Dallas Cowboys are a good football team.... More than that, they have looked like a great football team. My father and his family grew up Redskins fans and when part of the family moved to Florida they converted to Buccaneer fans while my father went with the hometown Panthers in 1995. So growing up although I wasn't around to have reasons to hate the Cowboys, I grew up disliking them. Almost, if not to the point of hatred. You gotta understand, since I have been able to retain the NFL seasons and collective memories from games, the Cowboys haven't been worth a hill of beans. More of a comedy or reality sitcom than anything. So this is new to me, and it hurts. Coming off a season where my team, the Carolina Panthers went 15-1 and made the league look like little school girls, the Cowboys have decided to do that this year. You wanna know the worst part? I actually find myself enjoying them when they play. They are fun to watch. I am someone who appreciates football for the little details about it. Sure Zeke is amazing, best back in the league and will be around for a long long long time, but there is much more that makes them great. Dak and Zeke have had the limelight so I won't be focusing on them. And I honestly don't when I watch them play, you obviously can't ignore the highlight plays made by the two rookies, but that's not what intrigues me. The offensive line for the Dallas Cowboys is something I don't think I've ever seen before. I mean they are special. Dak has forver in the pocket, Zeke seems like he is never touched until he gets at least 6 yards. The OL MOVES people. They pull and slide like I've never seen before. 

Every week I look for reasons and excuses on why the Cowboys will lose, much like people did for the Carolina Panthers last year, but I can't find any. If I do come up with something, I'm wrong. They are a bonehead time management play from being undefeated and they are the best team in football right now. And they have TWO ROOKIES leading their team. Ahh, it's just madness. A bunch of people dislike the Cowboys, they're also plenty who love the Cowboys. Finally those who love them can come and speak out and it's torturing. Make sure you Cowboy fans cherish this. You won't be hearing me say this ever again because it hurts too bad. You guys are good and barring a front office mixup, or loss of players, you won't be like the Panthers and have three successful years. You will be good for years to come. I have to give credit when it's due no matter how badly it stinks to say. I'm sorry NFL fans, the Cowboys are back and here to stay. 

UNC is going to be just fine

UNC opened up in the Bayou of Louisiana against Tulane University with a 95-75 win. I'll be the first one to admit I had so many questions about this team, this program. After coming up short in heartbreaking fashion just a couple months ago in the National Championship game there is so much left to be sorted out. Although it was a game that UNC should win, tonight showed who the Tar Heels will be. The Tar Heels opening up on a road is a cruise control win showed that they are going to keep being resilient. It's no debate that they miss Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige. How can you not miss a First Team All-American and the heart of your heart for the past four years? However, the Tar Heels talked all off season about this being a season fueled by avenging that loss to Villanova. They have spoke all summer and fall about the bad taste they have from that game and how it is going to push them through this season, I can't disagree with the way they looked tonight. Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson looked the part of Paige and Johnson. They need to be for this Tar Heel team to be successful. The duo combined for 50 points and more importantly were the calming forces for the team. Anytime the games momentum went Tulane's way Berry or Jackson was there to make a big shot. Jackson and Berry did what they need to do, what they expect themselves to do, but other Tar Heels made promising contributions.

Tony Bradley for starters. Bradley, the lone McDAA freshman was huge tonight. His first half was great. He plays just like Brice Johnson and looks to be another great big to come through the Tar Heel program. Isaiah Hicks is always overlooked, but he was the most impressive outside of Berry and Jackson. Hicks is going to grab rebounds and be efficient around the rim, that's a given, but what stuck out to me was the way he defended. Hicks has been known as a foul happy player during his career and tonight was definitely a refreshing change in his style of play. He also hit a couple jump shots which will only help UNC's offensive flow. Meeks was his usual self, up and down at times but he always rebound and had a QUIET 15 and 7. Kenny Williams played a great role defensively and on the boards for the Heels as he got his first start of his career due to the absence of Theo Pinson. Nate Britt was Nate Britt, reliable. The freshman all looked well except for Seventh Woods who looked nervous at times but that shouldn't be something to be concerned about. The player that is probably the most of overlooked on this team is Luke Maye, he was a monster on the boards. 

All in all it's just game one and the optimism from me will  likely fluctuate more than the Dow Jones after a Trump election. But this team will be fine. They will struggle at times but come ACC play they should be close to getting Pinson back and will be a top 15 to top 10 caliber team. This team can make another run and try to get redemption. Also, it is great to have College Basketball back, one of the better time of the year in sports. Judging by the games on opening night, it should be a good one.

Let's revisit my CFB preview

At the end of August I was one of many who wrote a piece previewing and predicting the outcome of the College Football season. I want to preface this piece by saying one thing. Man was I wrong on so many fronts, but I am not ashamed by it one bit. This is proof that sports are unpredictable and the imperfections prove to be pure. This season has three weeks left, THREE! It has already been an incredible year and we still have three weeks of what could be filled with an enormous amount of chaos.
Jumping right into it here is where I was wrong. I was wrong for picking Dalvin Cook as the Heisman winner for more than the obvious reasons. The obvious being that while FSU may be a good team, they aren't amongst the elite and have no shot at the title which I think you need to have. Whether that is fair or not is another discussion. Also, Clemson is running the table which is the speculation I put on Cook winning the Heisman. Finally, another reason I was wrong is due to the fact that we finally know what type of coach Jimbo Fisher is, he is a quarterback first coach and he is going to ride his guy to the end. FSU had the perfect opportunity this year to ride Cook over and over again. Instead of taking their poor OL and focusing on run blocking and riding your horse, you have depended on a redshirt freshman in Francois to lead your team behind a terrible passblocking OL. So that's that and I was wrong on that. I already put out my take on this but I'll reiterate, Lamar Jackson should win the Heisman and it shouldn't even be a debate.
I was also wrong in the ACC. While my UNC pick for the coastal is a hurricane played game away from absolutely being a reality, the Tar Heels are still not dead even though I believe they will not get lucky enough to make it to the ACC title game. However FSU being a little less than what I thought they would be has led to me missing the prediction as the ACC winner. Clemson will win out and go to be college football playoff.
The next wrong prediction of mine was the Pac 12. I will admit I downplayed Washington going into the year, I completely overlooked them and I'm so happy they've proven me wrong. Washington is an exciting team to watch. It's Boisie State in purple and gold while also having better personnel. They are fun to watch. The are currently sitting at number four and barring an upset, should win out and go to the playoff.
Finally, I was kinda wrong of the SEC. While technically my picks are still in place I was still wrong. First of all Florida will not and does not deserve to win the East. I hope somehow UT or even UK make it into the SEC title game. While all three will be walking into an absolute blood bath my gators do not deserve to win and over the next three weeks of the season will prove this true.

Now let's talk about where I was right. My Big Ten and Big 12 prediction were almost perfect. OU is going to end up winning the Big 12 and my Michigan over Ohio State is still in play. Ohio State could definitely shake things up and knock off Michigan but I think the Wolverines will run the table.

We have three weeks left in he regular season and just like the rest of you I can't wait to see what unfolds. At this point I'm rooting for absolute chaos. The way the world is going right now it all but seems inevitable.

Florida is in trouble

The fan in me is coming out and I am going completely against my hot takes article from a couple weeks ago. I honestly don't care. Many of you probably could care less, but here it is, the Florida Gators are in trouble and downward spiraling in a hurry. Coach McElwain was brought in to change one thing, the offensive level of play for Gators football. None would care about the facilities, or the culture of the program, or even losing if the Gators would just be able to score. Problem is, the offense hasn't improved at all. Okay I take that back, with Will Grier this offense looked amazing, very complex, moving the ball at will, and all other things considered to be needed for a good offense. But Grier is gone, we can argue til the cows come home about that situation, but the problem is, is that he is never coming back. Until this past Saturday Coach McElwain had won every game with HIS starting quarterback so it was hard to argue with the ugly wins. All that has changed. This team lost its first game with their QB and the problems can no longer be ignored. They have stepped up and beat one good team in his tenure so far and it just so happened to be a night game, in the swamp, with Grier. They have yet to win a meaningful game on the road, they have looked poor in every game this season outside of Kentucky and Missouri, every game. They lost the last four out of five games to end the season last year and guess what, I fear the same will happen this year. If I am being quite honest, I predict the gators will lose the next three games of the season which will put them at 6-6 heading to a terrible bowl, where they could even lose that one. The defense is next level, they have studs all over the field, but they have been bit by injuries and stay on the field too long to have the energy to be lock down. The Gators are in trouble and as a fan it is sad to see. Even if they do muster up a win this weekend they will lose to LSU and FSU, miss out on the SEC title game and lose their bowl game. I believed in McElwain, last year he took risks and at least went out swinging, this year he seems in over his head, he says the right things, but even he seems worried. The offense is terrible I don't care how you want to spin it, you have to be able to put a better product than Muschamp did and right now he hasn't. Outside of the six games with Grier this team has been 10-6 post Will Grier and could easily be 6-10 since then, maybe worse. To top it off, he is starting Austin Appleby at QB this weekend against South Carolina. I've already seen that, he looked terrible agaisnt Tennessee, and below average in his win the week after agaisnt Vanderbilt. I understand that him and Del Rio "have experience," but their experience stinks and every one knows it. It seems to me like he is in over his head and is making safe decisions so that he can explain himself after he has a terrible year next year and gets canned. He came in with confidence and has since lost it. The program has lost it already. When you have one job to do being hired you better do that one job, because it is not going over well in Gainesville. I hope for the best, but it seems as if all is lost.

One of the Heisman candidates is stealing votes from those who have a shot.

Here it comes again, every year the Heisman race becomes more and more of a JOKE. It's like a broken record on repeat and the hype surrounding it keeps it continuing. If you have been keeping up with most college football media outlets the four Heisman front runners are as followed; Jake Browning, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, and Jabrill Peppers.
I'll go ahead and be the one to say it. It's not a popular nor a well received take by me, but Jabrill Peppers is not a Heisman candidate. I understand where everyone is coming from with this pick, but the days of a defensive player winning the Heisman are longgg gone. The game is offensive friendly and football is better for it. By no means am I discrediting Jabrill Peppers as a football player.  He is a first round draft pick with elite and unique talents. A Heisman trophy winner, he is not. Yeah he has scored some touchdowns on offense, yeah he returns punts for touchdowns, you know who else did? Devin Hester, minus the offensive touchdowns, and had Miami put him in goal line/red zone situations I would bet his speed and athletic ability would've correlated to him scoring some offensive touchdowns. Most recently, Sammy Watkins. I understand he wasn't a defensive player first, however here me out. Watkins return kick off returns and punts just like Peppers, if we want to get into so did CJ Spiller. Both were given the recognition they deserve, but not Heisman winners. Oh, and keep in my mind, those were offensive studs on great teams and they still didn't get it. Even with the bias being on offensive players.
Want more?
Okay, Jabrill Peppers is a defensive back/safety/linebacker, in fact, this year he has lined up at linebacker and safety more so than last year. I'll go ahead and spit some facts really quick. Michigan plays a zone defense. Which is why Jabrill Peppers has a high number of tackles. He is there at the second level as a fourth and fifth linebacker on running plays and short route passes. That's not arguable. Here comes the fun part. Call me a homer but I'm going to use Jalen Tabor as my argument. Let me finish it first please.
Defensive Career Stats
Jabrill Peppers:
2014- 8 tackles, 0 INT, 0 FF, 0 FR(3 games played)
2015- 45 tackles, 0 INT, 0 FF, 0 FR(12 games played)
2016- 44 tackles, 0 INT, 0 FF, 0 FR(through 8 games)
Jalen Tabor:
2014- 31 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FF, 2 FR
2015- 40 tackles, 4 INT (2 for TD), 0 FF, 0 FR
2016- 12 tackles, 3 INT (1 for TD), 0 FF, 0 FR

Jalen plays in a man to man scheme being left 1 on 1 80%+ of the time he is on the field. I get this isn't a career long achievement award but for a man who is a defensive player first while also keeping in min the defensive schemes they play in, his numbers don't match those of Tabor who even missed a game this year. Tabor has put up a 1/4 of Peppers point total without having the benefit of his coach letting him return punts or line him up inside the 10 and run jet sweeps or have a wildcat package for him. Tabor is a first round draft pick as well and I'm not going to go as far in saying Tabor is a better overall football player than Peppers, but I will say is Tabor isn't even close to being thought of to be a Heisman candidate and his team has one loss. (Nor should he be a Heisman candidate). I understand Peppers is playing mainly LB this year but the argument is still valid. For him to have an argument for the Heisman his defensive numbers HAVE to be godly, and they aren't. So why Peppers? I get it guys, the Heisman isn't supposed to go to the best offensive player on one of the best teams, it's meant to go to the best football player. While in theory that sounds good, it's simply not the case. Football is just like any other sport. You score more than the other team, you win. If Peppers was taking balls to the house on defense and playing more than 10% of the snaps at RB for Michigan.  I might start considering it. It's a sexy and different choice for Heisman which is why some people have jumped on, but it's not practical or correct. Lamar Jackson, Jake Browning, Deshaun Watson have a much better argument and case than Peppers. Take Lamar off Louisville, are we even talking about them? Browning at Washington, does Washington beat Utah without him? Watson does nothing but win and has better numbers this year than he had at this point last year and many thought he should've won. What about Fournette? If LSU keeps winning it will be because of him and the numbers will be there with him missing 2-3 games. What about Jalen Hurts from Bama? Dude is a freshman and leads his team with great numbers. Want a defensive guy? How about Jonathan Allen from Bama, god-like numbers as a DL with points put up. And turnovers forced.
Moral of this rant is simple. Peppers is a phenomenal, franchise turning player. However, he is not a Heisman candidate, let him win all the other awards for special teams and the Butkus award, but don't let him steal votes from those who actually need them. Can we please stop this before he wastes a seat in New York.

Enough with the hot takes, NCAA football fans

Alright, pay attention! We have a HUGE problem in this country! Oh, no I'm not talking about our country's politics, I'm talking about our sports. We live in a society where not all teams are treated equally, where one loss can mean you're overrated or where one win can catapult you into the week 7 playoff standings. It is an issue that is in desperate need of fixing. I have a solution, stop living in the moment as a sports fan! I'm not innocent on this either, I often find myself going back and forth (especially for my teams). If this season has taught me anything it's that we cannot be prisoners of the moment.

Here are some examples and allow me to follow these examples with some reasons why people need to chill out on labeling every team. 

Remember Les Miles? While LSU has looked like a better, more cohesive unit since his departure I think they win all the games they have won so far with Miles. the point I'm getting at is the name Tom Herman. He was the hot name and overwhelming choice to be the head coach at the end of this year. I don't want to challenge his coaching ability because I have absolutely no credibility to do so, however, since then Houston has lost two games they had no business losing. Maybe it is because he is planning to leave, but can it also be that he can't motivate from week to week? Or maybe he doesn't have all the answers to college football like we thought? I don't know those answers, but right now I'm staying away from Herman if I'm LSU. He needs different personnel than what is at LSU right now anyways. He needs a fast offense line that can pass block well, not a slow run blocking O line. A quarterback would also help. 

How about Auburn? Three weeks ago they were a terrible team and Gus Malzahn was probably out the door. Now they at least look the part of a top 10 team and have been considerably better. Plus how bad were they to begin with? Their two losses are to Clemson and Texas A&M, granted both were at home but both are also at least top 15 teams. Again another example of living in the moment. Those are just two examples off the top of my head that show how we as fans can be prisoners of the moment far too often than not. 

Let me hit you with some reality and reason on why you again need to stop crowning champions and playoff teams after seven weeks. 

First of all I'm not buying that there will be a two loss team in the playoff, many analysts who get paid to talk about this sport and fans have already marked it down that a two loss team will get in and its easy to see who they are talking about. LSU, Auburn and Tennessee. It won't happen. LSU has the following left on their schedule in this order, Bama at home, Arkansas away, Florida home, and Texas A&M away. They have looked great the past three games, but remember who they have beat. Missouri, Southern Miss and Ole Miss; Ole Miss might be consider a good win, but I am saying no its not, two weeks ago I made the mistake saying Ole Miss is the second best team in the SEC and an outside playoff contender, but that loss at Arkansas ended their season. So Saturday night you had a deflated Ole Miss team who is playing for nothing against a rejuvenated LSU team who had their horse back. I won't take away from them that they have looked great, but let's be rational about their wins. Then you have Auburn. Auburn looks better than anyone in the SEC outside of Bama. They have two losses though and have this as their remaining schedule, Ole Miss away, Vandy at home, Georgia away, Bama A&M home and Bama away. All look to be relatively easy outside of Bama. Auburn has the best chance out of anybody if their is a two loss team to get in. Tennessee has the easiest schedule of the three two loss SEC teams, but they could possibly not win their division. However, as bad as the fan in my thinks Florida winning out, reality is different. Tennessee's chance to make it in is that A&M continues to win, Florida loses one more game, and they somehow pull off an upset in the SEC title game. 

The biggest reason why I don't see it happening is that only an SEC team can get in with two losses and all of these scenarios would have Bama losing at least once. It won't happen. LSU would have to win out and hope Bama also loses to Auburn. Auburn would have to win out, and I just gave you the scenario for Tennessee, who I even think is losing one more game, but that is for another conversation. 

Here is another reason why it won't happen. Unless absolute chaos happens it is looking more and more like the PAC 12 is going to have an undefeated team, the Big 12 has two teams undefeated right now that could make the possibility of having an undefeated team possible. The ACC has Clemson playing their biggest game of the year this week against FSU and if they are to get past that, they will win out and go. The Big Ten has Michigan and Nebraska right now and both look like they are headed for an undefeated title game barring a loss by either one. Look, I know it sounds cool, but it won't happen, no way a two loss team gets in. Ohio State could end up with a Big Ten title and one loss, Bama could have one loss and an SEC title if the cards fall right if they slip against LSU, Louisville needs Clemson to lose twice, but they could have one loss and an ACC title. Sorry but too much has to happen and I don't care how great they look right now, it just isn't enough for me to say that its almost certain there will be a two loss team. 

There is SO MUCH that is still going to happen before November 30th comes around. The top ten, hell the top 25 is going to be dramatically different. Can we just agree to enjoy and take the wins and losses for what there worth? They are apart of an overall resume that can be debated on after the regular season and conference championships are decided. For now, stop being a prisoner of the moment.