Everyone thought the negative perception of Rutgers basketball would change when Fred Hill was hired. They cited Hill's ability to recruit players in New Jersey based on his work as as assistant coach. Then-Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy hired him only for that purpose. It certainly wasn't for his coaching ability. This decision proved to be a mistake. Rutgers has not gotten any better under Hill's leadership. This pessimist does not expect anything to change. Hill received enough ...

Florida Gators. Tennessee Volunteers. USC Trojans. South Carolina Gamecocks. Florida State Seminoles. And the Oregon Ducks—again. The most recent news of a college football player getting into trouble comes out of Eugene, Oregon where Jamere Holland has been dismissed for violating team rules. Yawn—What else is new? Time and time again we hear stories of another player getting into trouble, but the punishment seems to tie to the player's importance to the ...

  So how do you like your bubble teams? Do you like strong RPI and SOS numbers? Is a winning conference record important to you?      With Selection Sunday coming in a little over two weeks, it will be interesting to see how the committee sorts things out. In the meantime, let’s take a look at a couple of teams on the bubble.    Connecticut has put together a couple of big wins to put themselves solidly on the ...

The 2010 NFL Draft brought out the "best of the best" football players to compete for the top spots and to be given offers from some of the biggest franchises in the NFL. All year these athletes have been competing to prove that they are as talented as some of them claim to be. Although the NFL Combine has not begun, this is the early projected rankings for the NFL Draft. These projected picks are ...

  When Missouri forward Justin Safford crumpled to the wood floor of Mizzou Arena Wednesday night after completing a half-court alley-oop play against Colorado, my mind assumed the worst. Shortly after, Nick Berandini tweeted that the injury wasn't all that serious, and I relaxed a little.  But that tweet was soon updated to inform us that Safford was indeed done for the season with a torn ligament in his knee. And with that, a Tiger team that already ...

  South Florida (16-11) has gotten itself back on the bubble, but this time it’s for the NIT, not the NCAA. The Bulls looked absolutely pathetic during the 74-49 trouncing at the hands of the Villanova Wildcats. This was the worst loss of the season for USF, who for most of the season has overachieved. The Bulls seem to have peaked in early February; since then they’ve gone 1-4. The last two losses have been exceptionally bad, but ...

About eight months ago, I had the privilege, along with some others at a Trojan round-table chat, to interview Frankie Telfort, the 2009 Trojan linebacker recruit from Gulliver prep school in Miami, Florida. While this opportunity marked the first time I had engaged Telfort, it was by no means the first time I had heard of the then-No. 8 prep linebacker as rated by Scout.com. Most recruiting junkies were well aware of his exploits on ...

The pundits thought they had it right when the season began, but oh, how they were proven wrong. For every Richmond or UTEP providing a potential Cinderella story, there's a North Carolina or Michigan who proved to be more disappointing than the current season of 24. You know the Tar Heels and Wolverines are on the list. Hit the button and see the eight other teams whose reality is in stark contrast to the lofty expectations ...

  At some point, it begins to sound like a broken record. Twice in 2008, once at home and once in Chapel Hill, Clemson blew huge second half leads to the North Carolina Tar Heels.  20-point margins were whittled to single digits and then deficits with almost annoying certainty. Clemson rebounded at the end of 2008 with a nice run to the ACC final.  When they got to the first round of the NCAA tournament, they built a ...

A number one seed for the NCAA Tournament is huge. Everyone wants it. The difference between a #1 and #2 or 3 seeds path to the final is large. With the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaching, (Selection Sunday is less than three weeks away) I thought I'd look at the chances of the Duke Blue Devils getting a number one seed for the Big Dance. History has shown us, though, that holding a top seed doesn't always ...