Way Too Early CBB Top 25

Bleacher Report is preparing to put out a comprehensive College Basketball preview. I'm writing about Northwestern and Indiana, and part of the job is to vote on the Top 25 preseason rankings... in September. Here's how I voted.

1. North Carolina - They won last year. Yeah, they lost most of their veteran scoring, but they are the defending champs. And Ed Davis is goanna be awesome.

2. Purdue - Awesome depth. JaJuan Johnson is about to make The Leap, and if Hummel can stay healthy they are easily the team to beat in the Big Ten.

3. Kansas - Ton of returning talent.

4. Texas - see above.

5. Michigan State - last year's runner-ups have great skill at guard and in the frontcourt.

6. Villanova
7. UConn
8. West Virginia
9. Duke
10. Kentucky

For much of these rankings I just rode the strength of a program and the talent of their coach. A great coach in college is a Big Deal.

11. Washington
12. Tennessee
13. Syracuse
14. Minnesota
15. Georgia Tech
16. Michigan
17. Siena
18. Louisville
19. Illinois
20. Butler
21. UCLA
22. Mississippi State
23. Ohio State
24. Clemson
25. Gonzaga

So yeah, that's it. I will certainly make some edits and changes as more information comes out.

Weekend Watch/Wagers 09/25/09

Welcome back to the watch. The watch will actually not be watching much of the games on Saturday because I, with fellow A.C.S.S. writers Fodor, Shark, and Derek (though with a different group) will be descending on Ann Arbor to cheer on our beloved Hoosiers in the Big House against the Wolverines! I feel a repeat of Ap State. Ok, maybe I agree with my Dad who took Michigan and gave the 21 points to IU. His wager, just like mine for this weekend, were legally bought in Las Vegas. I’ve had fight songs stuck in my head all day so I think I’m sufficiently pumped. On to the Watch!

Friday 09/25/09

Missouri at Nevada

I think Mizzou is going to roll, but I love seeing power conferences go to lesser conferences for away games. It shows the school has no fear and money isn’t the main goal of everything.

Who I think is going to Win: Mizzou
Who I want to win: Mizzou

Australian Rules Football! 10:30 ESPN Classic

I know, who watches it, just turn it on and enjoy, it’s like rugby, football, basketball, rolled into 1 and jumping on guys backs is legal and encouraged. Just watch it, for me.

Who I want to Win: St Kilda
Who I think will Win: Geelong

Saturday 09/26/09

Gameday 10 AM ET ESPN, State College, PA
Corso and Co descend on Happy Valley to hype up the Iowa vs Penn St game where PSU looks to avenge the loss from last years

Who do I think Corso will pick: Penn St.

Who do I want Corso to pick: Sorry Colin and Anne, but PSU needs this more then Iowa, so PSU.



10 AM – 4 PM Ann Arbor

The watch will be taking the crap from the maize and blue as he proudly rocks his Ray Fisher jersey (which was formerly a Benjarvis GreenEllis jersey). We plan to arrive at the Big House at 10, bust out Tim’s grill where we will be making Eggs, Bacon, Sausage breakfast sandwiches. We got a regulation size pong table where some drinking games will take place. Then we will descend on the Big House and watch IU destroy (maybe not) Michigan.

Who I want to win: HOOSIERS!
Who I think will win: Go Blue!


Iowa at Penn State 7 ET ABC

A big ten show down that could pave the way to a Big Ten Title for either team. Iowa has won 6 of the last 7, including their last few visits to happy value. Joe Pa says there is no such thing as revenge, Iowa just plain beat them last year. I still think Penn State’s players are thinking about it, and are going to roll.

Who I want to win: Again sorry Colin and Anne, But PSU needs this more PSU
Who I think will win: WE ARE…..PENN STATE

Notre Dame vs Purdue ESPN 7 ET

Notre Dame has to win this game (and preferrably big) if they want to continue to claim that they are back. Purdue needs to bounce back from an embarrassing home loss to Northern Illinois. Because of these circumstances, and the fact both teams love passing, this should be a good game to watch.

Who I want to win: Notre Dame
Who I think will win: Notre Dame

Texas Tech vs Houston ESPN2 8:15 ET

Will Houston prove to be legit? I sure hope so, this should be a high scoring shootout and should be a pleasure to watch.

Who I want to win: Houston
Who I think will win: Houston

Wager Washington State at Southern Cal

Wazzu is getting 45 points. That’s a lot of points and So Cal has not looked that good on offense. Granted So Cal is coming off the loss and could be pissed and take it out on Wazzu. I sure hope not, hey Wazzu only lost to Stanford by 26. Wait why am I doing this again? Anyways be sure to look for my friend Kelly in the stands as I pray for a close game.

Sunday 09/27/09

Wager: Green Bay vs St Louis 1 PM ET

St Louis has 1 touchdown this season, so I took the Packers and gave the 6.5. I’m feeling good cause the Rams are bad, but I hope they win and I lose money. We will see if it happens

Wager: New Orelans vs Buffalo 4:05

I took over 52 points in this game. New Orleans is averaging 46.5 points a game, they could basically do this by themselves. Buffalo actually has a pretty good offense and could put some points of their own. It’s in Buffalo, but the weather should be nice so points should be a coming.

BEARS at Seattle 4:05

The Bears travel to the great northwest to take on Hasselbackless Seahawks team. I think the Bears should take care of business easily and prove to TJ that he made the wrong choice of team this off season.

Who I want to win: Bears
Who I think will win: Bears

Wager Colts at Cards

My last wager of the weekend I took the Colts +2.5 over the Cards. Cards had a great week with Warner setting an NFL record for completion percentage, however, Manning under the bright lights (of the regularly season) plays well and I think he leads his team to a victory. I am afraid the Colts defense will come up flat after being on the field for 45+ minutes last game.

Top Chef Power Rankings (09/23/09)

Top Chef had a fun episode yesterday bringing Penn and Teller on to show a little misdirection with their magic tricks and then deconstructed the magic, which was then used as the theme, deconstruction of dishes. Most chef’s did well, others did poorly, here’s how it fell out.


Top Shelf

Kevin “Red Beard” Gillespie



I was actually surprised to see Red Beard won this challenge, he made a solid dish, but I thought there was another dish that was better and embodied the challenge better. Needless to say he got his 2nd win and a solid quickfire puts him back into the top spot.


Bryan Voltaggio



I thought his dish was the sure winner. His Cesar salad looked tasty, had a little trick to it with the dressing. It embodied the deconstruction challenge the best with have all the multiple pieces laid out which would all come together when you bite into it. Some how the judges disagree. He probably would have maintained the top spot despite Red Beards win if he had a better finish in the quick fire. He had a bottom 3 finish with his white and black dessert. So he just barely slips out of the top spot.


Michael Voltaggio



Michael had a solid night, he did not finish in the top 4 (which is probably why Bryan didn’t win) but is still clearly one of the top chef’s on the show.


Jennifer Carroll



The perfectionist who was running around and very disappointed with her self the entire episode made it to the top 4 with her gigantic steak with lasagna around it (yes it was actually meat lasagna). I was considering moving her up for that she didn’t put in what she felt was her best effort and was still better then most of the chefs. The only reason I didn’t, is being frazzled and rushing around in the show is never a good thing, even if it produces top dishes.


Best of the Rest


Eli Krishtein



Eli has honestly been the most consistent performer of the competition. He’s almost always right in the middle. He has never hit the chopping block, and has made the finals of a couple challenges and quickfire’s including this episode. He can maintain the level for a few more weeks, but if he wants to make the top 4, he will need to start making the top more consistently. I liked his ghetto blue taped pressure cooker that blew up. After seeing all the previews I was certain this was going to be a bigger deal during the show. His “bulls testicles” were a surprise hit, and led to some funny commentary by Padma, who said she’s had bulls testicles before. I wonder what other.. cough cough cough sorry don’t know what happened there moving on.


Ashley Merriman



After her second straight top finish this Ashley becomes our biggest mover of the week jumps to best of the rest status. Just think 2 weeks ago I had her on the chopping block, just shows what a couple of top finishes can do. She has performed well and deserves to be up here, but she could fall from grace quickly if she has a bad dish. She still has some work to do but if she keep making the top 4 she will keep moving up.


Could Go Either Way


Michael Isabella



Besides remembering Mattin and talking trash about Robin, he was basically a non factor this episode. So leaving him here seems about right


Middle of the Pack


Ash Fulk



His second bottom finish moves him towards the bottom. I’m not quite ready to put him on the chopping block because I think this was more luck of the draw as much of anything else for Ash. Yes he screwed up his potatoes which basically killed his Sheppard’s Pie. But talk about bad circumstances. The only Sheppard’s Pie he ever had was his own, and it was his luck that the very British Toby made his triumphant return this week and knows his Sheppard’s Pie. I think he is still a solid contender and that’s why he avoids the block


Chopping Block


Laurine Wicket



A week after having a top performance she is back in the bottom. She again barely staved off elimination (is that like her 3rd or 4th time she barely made it through). She needs to get wins if she wants to keep moving on.


Robin Leventhal



Even though I think she’s a better cook the Laurine I think she’s the next to go. She’s scattered brained and has produces some very poor dishes. But more importantly then that, Bravo now let her talk about her cancer story so the producers are ok with letting her go. So unless she wins another quick fire to get herself immunity, I think she’s the next to go.

Armchair Superstars Watch Sox Get Smoked

Tonight was our great friend Steve Noffke's 'bachelor party,' part one. This would be the co-ed part, where we all went to the Sox game, without any strippers, and plus the wife to be and other ladies.

It was a good time, overall. At least as good a time as you can have while semi-watching our South Siders get hosed by a bunch of guys that live in the middle of nowhere, Missouri. This while battling Our Hero, Mark Buehrle, who also lives in Middle of Nowhere, Missouri.

Damn.

Hopefully we'll have some pictures up soon. I'm hoping they don't shut down Buehrles and Floyd, since Mark is on my fantasy roster and I still have a good chance of winning in the semifinals and going for the CHAMPIONSHIP in Yahoo!Public345602.

Among the top prop bets for the night;

Over/under 4 pitches on any given at bat
Over/under 15 pitches per inning

Despite Ozzie's comments last night and earlier today, the Sox continued to not hit worth a damn. The playoffs are looking further and further away.

At least we got a great tailgate in. Update coming tomorrow on what will hopefully be a great Saturday watching college football.

Can Northwestern hold off Syracuse? Can Indiana ( the underdogs ) take out Akron at home? And so on, and so forth. College Football is great.

Top Chef Power Rankings (09/17/09)

So Top Chef was a struggle for most of the chefs last night as the had to work outside their comfort zone, but some dishes really shined. Top 3 remain the same but in a different order, the rest of the list remains almost unchanged and Armchairsuperstar’s lowest ranked contestant from last week was sent pack this week. One item before the rankings, is anyone else getting annoyed with the obligatory zoom in on the sprint phone while the contestants are making phone calls. I know DVR saves us from commercials, but these in show ads are getting really annoying.

Here how it rolls out.

Top Shelf

1. Bryan Voltaggio



Bryan claims the overall number 1 spot on the heels of a victory from last night’s elimination challenge and his second straight. This is his 3rd elimination challenge victory which now puts him 1 ahead of “Red Beard”. He is almost always in the finals for the elimination challenge even when he doesn’t win.


2. Michael Voltaggio



With a top 3 this close it’s all about what have you done for me lately. He was a top finisher last night and “Red Beard” was not, so he gets the nod.


3. Kevin “Red Beard” Gillespie



I was surprised that he didn’t finish as a top finisher last night the way the judges were raving about his dish. He didn’t make it however, and because of that he falls two spots and ends up here. I liked his little clip about playing Horseshoes, I mean really, who has a regulation size horseshoe pit in their back yard?


4. Jennifer Carroll



A pretty quiet episode for her last night. She is still a top competitor and stays in the elite class.


Best of the Rest


5. Eli Krishtein



Nothing he did last night warrants him to stay at this spot, but nobody impressed me enough to jump past him.


6. Ash Fulk



Same as Eli, didn’t have a spectacular show, but didn’t do anything bad enough to warrant a fall from grace.


Could go Either way


7. Michael Isabella



So I continue to think he’s not that good of a chef but apparently other’s disagree. In the opening of the episode, one of the brothers said they thought the top 3 Chefs were, himself, his brother and Mike. I fail to see how “Red Beard” could not be mentioned with 2 elimination wins and Mike’s 0. He talks a big game and seems to know food, but doesn’t always translate to making good dishes. He excelled in the quickfire, but I think that was because he was the only chef to have worked with cactus before. Does working with cactus make him a good chef for having that experience, or lucky that he had? I couldn’t tell you, and I still can’t decide where he will end up.



Middle of the Pack


8. Ashley Merriman



She moves off the chopping block and back into the middle of the pack. She was a finalist last night for what Tom called “Her best dish to date.” This however doesn’t erase all the problems she has had before. I still she is a better chef then she has been performing, but she’ll need more dishes like last night to move her up.


9. Ron Duprat



Ron only drops 1 spot for his bottom finish. For as much as the chef’s complained about dishes last night I was surprised to see him on the chopping block. It seemed like his dish was solid except for the drink, but I guess the drink put him over the top. He said he doesn’t drink, so I think he should avoid drinks while making dishes and he will be fine.


10. Laurine Wicket



I debated about leaving Laurine on the chopping block, but she did have a top finish last night. I feel this challenge was right in her wheel house and she took advantage of that, she has had a lot of poor performances, but if she decides to stay true to herself, she might be able to stick around

Chopping Block

Robin Leventhal



Robin barely staved off elimination last night out lasting Mattin for 2 reasons I believe; 1. Mattin was on the bottom the previous week, and 2. She knew her dish sucked, compared to Mattin who enjoyed his. If she produces another subpar dish, she will be gone next week.

Myles Brand, Former IU President, Dies at 67

One day after pancreatic cancer claimed the life of Patrick Swayze, NCAA President Myles Brand has passed away from the same disease.

Here at Indiana, Brand is best known as the man responsible for firing the legendary Bobby Knight back in 2000. I guess he's best known for that overall, since ESPN mentions it in their lead.

You can read the ESPN obit here.

As NCAA prez, Brand pushed for a higher academic standard in athletic programs around the country. He took over the job in 2001 after leaving Indiana following the uproar that accompanied the Knight termination. Whether he was right or wrong in firing The General (and, in my book, he was wrong), Brand was a hard worker and a man of high moral standards.

Urlacher Out For Season: Paging Derrick Brooks?

As if last night wasn't bad enough (and let's not overstate this. It really wasn't that bad, despite Cutler's four picks and the injuries. That's par for the course when you run a country club-style training camp like the Lovie Smith Editions. The Packers are a good team, our defense played well, and it was a close game the whole way through.), the news today is that six-time Pro Bowler and Heart of the Defense Brian Urlacher is out for the season with a dislocated wrist.

I think free agent MLB Derrick Brooks is a must-add. He can still play, he worked with Lovie in Tampa Bay, and he is available. Various sources are reporting that the Bears have already been in contact with his agent, so let's get Derrick up to Halas Hall ASAP.

Hunter Hillenmeyer is smart, but he can't keep up with NFL receivers up the middle like Urlacher. He just doesn't have the speed for a Cover Two. Brooks does. Let's get it done.

Here is a diagram from the Tribune explaining what went wrong: