NBA East vs NBA West

Last year in the NBA the Western conference was clearly the more powerful conference. Not only did the West have the best team, the eventual champion the Golden State Warriors, but they had 9 teams that had positive records (which meant the Thunder missed the playoffs even though they were 45-37), as opposed to the Eastern conference, who only had 5 positive teams. This year though,so far the situation seems to have almost flipped, the Eastern conference has 10 positive teams, for now, and the Western conference only has 6. I still think that the West might have more powerful teams  at the top, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Golden State are all legitimate championship contenders. Whereas in the East the only teams that I could see actually making a run would be Cleveland, other than that Atlanta, Indiana, Toronto and Chicago all seem to be one good player away from being championship contenders.

The weirdest thing is the regression of some of the Western conference teams and the emergence of other Eastern conference teams. The most surprising would probably be the Houston Rockets, who are 16-17 this year, last year they finished 56-26 last year. It doesn't really make sense, the Rockets still have James Harden, and they have enough parts on the rest of their team to be good. If I had to guess it's probably due to the firing of their coach Kevin McHale and maybe internal issues with the team. Another Western team that isn't as good as last year would be the New Orleans Pelicans, they are 10-21 and have been affected a lot by injuries. The Trail Blazers have regressed but that was to be expected after everyone they lost during the offseason.  

It is hard to pick out one team in the East that has improved the most, but the one team with the most upside would probably be the Pacers. The Pacers have a pretty good backcourt, especially with the addition of Monta Ellis, and now that Paul George is back at full strength. I think they should try to add another center or power forward during the season to make a run at a championship. The Celtics, Magic, Knicks, Pistons, and Hornets have all been more impressive than last year. The Magic have a very good young core, led by Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon. The Celtics have also quietly built an impressive line-up, with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Marcus Smart, and Amir Johnson. One team that has disappointed me this season is the Bulls, they have the talent, but I believe they need to move on from the Derrick Rose era. The Bulls need to embrace Jimmy Butler as their leader and trade some of their frontcourt players. I will always like Joakim Noah because of the effort he plays with, but he isn't giving much to the team. This will hopefully create more playing time for talented rookie Bobby Portis. They could also use an upgrade at small forward, maybe trade a couple players like Nikola Mirotic and Mike Dunleavy to try to get an impact player.

NBA Update

The major story in the NBA this season, like last season, is the Golden State Warriors, they are 25-1 and they started 24-0. They lost to Milwaukee Bucks a couple days ago, and part of the reason they lost could be that they had played six straight road games. Steph Curry and the Warriors get another chance against the Bucks tomorrow at home, I think they will be ready for that one. The Warriors do many things well, but probably the most important factor in their greatness would probably be how well they pass the ball. The Warriors are first in the league with assists, with almost 30 a game, they are also first in points at around 116 points per game. The Warriors have a very complete team, Steph  Curry and Klay Thompson are the sharpshooters who score most of the points for the Warriors, and Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala can play defense and occasionally pour in some points. Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, and Marreese Speights make up a deep group of big men that can provide defensive support and rebound pretty well and Leandro Barboso, Shaun Livingston and Brandon Rush can provide some support when needed.

On the other side of the league is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost 4-2 to the Warriors in the NBA Finals last year. The Cavs are lead by Lebron James, and the team is starting to gain more chemistry and play as a team. Probably better than last year, when the team was almost completely reconstructed. If the Cavs are able to stay healthy they could definitely beat the Warriors in a seven game series, but I think the Warriors are also better than they were last year, so it should be interesting to see what happens. I think the two other contenders would be Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder will always be good as long as they have a healthy Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but I think they need to improve their bench and maybe get a more reliable starter at shooting guard. Dion Waiters and Andre Roberson just aren't championship level players. The Spurs have an incredible bench and have a lot of championship experience, the Spurs play outstanding defense and also pass the ball well. However their three man core of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are getting very old and will need Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge to step up their game if they are going to win a championship.

NFL Playoffs: AFC

The defending super bowl champions the New England Patriots are yet again in good position for another deep run in the playoffs. The Patriots are 11-2 and have clinched a playoff berth, but have been greatly affected by injuries, so I don't know if they will be quite as powerful as last year. Personally I really dislike the Patriots and I hope that they lose in the playoffs, hopefully my Steelers can knock them out. Although the Steelers might not even get a chance, like many other teams the Steelers have been affected by injuries, but more so to their stars. The Steelers have an extremely explosive offense, they have multiple very talented wide receivers in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton. But the Steelers have played very few games where they have had both their star quarterback and star running back. The weakness for the Steelers is the pass defense, they have a very average secondary that has held them back slightly. I think the Steelers would have a shot at the Super Bowl if they had all their offensive pieces healthy, although the defense certainly needs some work. 

The other two teams in the AFC that can make a run at the Super Bowl are the Denver Broncos and the Cincinnati Bengals. Both teams have pretty good defenses although the Bengals might be without their quarterback for a while as he fractured his throwing hand last week. The Broncos have a very good defense, but their offense sometimes isn't the best. Basically the opposite of the Steelers. The good news is that we will find out who really are the best teams, Pittsburgh just beat the Bengals 33-20, and will play the Broncos this week. Also the Broncos play the Bengals two weeks from now and the Patriots still have to play the Jets this season.

Heisman Preview

Tonight the biggest individual award will be given out, the Heisman Trophy, the three favorites are Derrick Henry, Deshaun Watson, and Christian McCaffrey. Derrick Henry is probably the most likely to win, Henry is a running back from Alabama who has amounted 1,986 yards on 339 carries and has scored 23 touchdowns. Henry has basically carried the Alabama offense most of the year, and has really increased his importance as the year has gone on. I think that Henry is absolutely a good running back but at the same time I think he benefits greatly from having an elite offensive line, most of which were highly recruited and will probably play on Sunday's. He is a very big running back at around 6'3'' 240 lbs, but he has enough speed to be very productive at the college level. Personally I think that even if he actually wins the Heisman that he isn't the best NFL prospect out of the group, he reminds me a lot of Eddie Lacy, who is a quality running back, but just doesn't have the speed to really shine at the pro level. 

Deshaun Watson is the only quarterback out of the group, he is the epitome of the college quarterback, a very powerful arm and able to scramble all over the field. Watson has passed for around 3,500 yards with a completion rate hanging around 70%, he also compiled 30 passing touchdowns, but had 11 interceptions. What makes him very dangerous is how effectively he can run, he ran for 887 yards and 11 touchdowns. Watson reminds me of Cam Newton, but a little bit smaller, I do think that Watson could end up being a better passer than Cam Newton, especially if he cleans up his form. Deshaun has a very strong arm, and can throw it all over the field, but whoever drafts him eventually will try to clean up his form and release time.  He is definitely one of the better quarterback prospects, but usually mobile quarterback don't thrive in the NFL.

The final candidate is Christian McCaffrey, the running back out of Stanford. Although it might be selling him short to call him just a running back, McCaffrey does everything for the Cardinal. He has compiled over 3,000 all purpose yards which I think broke many records. He has carried his team to a 11-2 record, and a Rose Bowl berth against my Iowa Hawkeyes. Personally I think that McCaffrey best fits the mold of what a Heisman winner is supposed to be. He does everything for his team and is a good student as well, but I think each candidate is deserving and is a good student and player.

College Basketball Update

Early on in this college basketball season there hasn't been too much noise, there were a couple good games between top teams, and some teams certainly helped their resume, but nothing completely surprising. The Big Ten seems like it will be a three team battle between Michigan State, Purdue, and Maryland, with Michigan, Indiana, and Iowa also hanging in there. Michigan State is currently ranked #1 but I think that may be too high, I think the Spartans will probably end up with at least 5 losses, but will come to play come tournament time. Purdue seems like a really good team, which doesn't really make sense considering they had a fairly average season last year. They are loaded with big men, they have two 7-footers, A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas, and a talented 5-star freshmen Caleb Swanigan. Plus Raphael Davis, Kendall Stephens, and Vince Edwards are all solid contributors to the Purdue line-up. Purdue will play solid defense throughout the year but it will be interesting to see if they can get back to an elite status as a team. Maryland has taken care of business, outside of an acceptable road loss to North Carolina they have look very good and should be very dangerous.

The Big 12 is also likely a three team race it seems, with Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa State all contending. Last year Kansas won the regular season title, but Iowa State won the Big 12 tournament. Perry Ellis will always be a force for the Jayhawks, but they still have a few players remaining from the 2013 Class that featured Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the first and third overall draft picks in the 2014 NBA Draft. Frank Mason, Wayne Selden, and Brannen Greene should all make an impact and young players Devonte Graham, Carlton Bragg, and Cheick Diallo all will be difference makers. Oklahoma is a veteran team led by Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler, and Jordan Woodard. I think Oklahoma and Iowa State certainly will definitely challenge for the Big 12 Title, but Kansas looks just too deep and too talented and I expect the Jayhawks to win a piece of another Big 12 Championship and probably contend for the national title.

Playoff Time

All the playoff match-ups are now set, and its #1 Clemson taking on #4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and #2 Alabama taking on #3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. This feels like it will be a much better playoff than last year, it turned out last year that all the controversy with putting in Ohio State payed off with the Buckeyes winning it all. But at the same time two out of the three games were blowouts, Oregon whooped Florida State 59-20, but then got beaten thoroughly by Ohio State 42-20 in the National Championship. No one wants to watch that except the team who's winning, people want to see the best teams going down to the wire and creating classic games. I think that this year certainly has the clear cut four best teams in college football, and that the match-ups will be closer.

Clemson has been ranked #1 in every single college football playoff and has a Heisman candidate in Deshaun Watson. Oklahoma has been on fire since they lost to Texas early in the season and also have a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Baker Mayfield. This will be a very exciting game and a very high scoring game, both teams have capable defenses, but their strengths are really with their offenses. I'd say Baker Mayfield vs Deshaun Watson is basically a draw, they are both very skilled. Oklahoma has the advantage at running back with both Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, but both teams have good wide receivers, Oklahoma with Sterling Shepard and Clemson with Deon Cain. To be honest I haven't watched either of these teams that much so I don't really know who is better, but Oklahoma just seems to have a momentum that none of the other teams have. Prediction Oklahoma 38 Clemson 36.

Michigan State versus Alabama will be a game won in the trenches, which means the offensive and defensive lines for both teams will be tested and will likely win the game. Both teams have outstanding defenses, Alabama has the better running back, Michigan State has the better quarterback. Alabama is consistently in the spotlight and on the big stage, and Michigan State consistently win big games as the underdog. This is a really tough game, but I think Michigan State and the Big 10 will upset Alabama and the SEC once again. Prediction Michigan State 20 Alabama 17.

Iowa to the Rose Bowl

Last night my team the Iowa Hawkeyes lost 16-13 to the Michigan State Spartans. Despite the loss, Iowa proved a lot to the country, including me, and gained a lot of respect. Personally I saw something I hadn't seen before from that football team. In the last couple games especially the defense looked weaker than they should've been, but this game was different. My team took on a very good Michigan State and gave their very best effort and just couldn't quite get it done. Iowa retook the lead on the first play of the 4th quarter on a 85 yard touchdown pass. Then I think starting with about 10 minutes left in the game Michigan State went on a 22 play 85 yard drive that took around 9 minutes. It featured multiple 3rd downs and one very crucial 4th down conversion, but in the end Iowa couldn't get it done.

This resulted in Michigan State getting into the college football playoff at #3. That means that the Rose Bowl, which features a team from the Big 10 and Pac-12, will have to choose between Iowa and Ohio State. I believe it would be a major mistake to put Ohio State in over Iowa for a couple reasons. First is that both teams played Michigan State and both lost by three. The difference is that Ohio State got to play MSU at home, and got to play against the Spartans backup quarterback. That makes a huge difference, and Ohio State fans and even some players are basically asking for a second chance. Luckily they didn't somehow make it into the playoff because they didn't deserve it all. Ohio State did know or should've known that was their only chance to get into the playoff, they had to beat Michigan State and get a Big Ten Championship. They had to do that because they had zero quality wins. I think Iowa had a slightly easier regular season schedule but they shouldn't be penalized coming that close to winning a Big Ten championship. Secondly Iowa fans travel to bowl games very well, which is important to the people who choose who goes to the Rose Bowl because they want to sell tickets obviously. I believe especially after how close Iowa came to winning the Big 10 Championship and the fact that Iowa hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1991 that Iowa fans will travel in large numbers to Pasadena on New Years Day. Third the Pac-12 team in the Rose Bowl will be Stanford, and the other New Years Six bowl is the Fiesta Bowl which will likely have Notre Dame. I think that an Ohio State-Notre Dame match-up is great and a Iowa-Stanford match-up is great, those are two really games. Ohio State and Notre Dame are two of the most prestigious programs in all of college football, and Iowa and Stanford play very similar to each other and would make a great game.

Recap CFB Week 13

Week 13 in college football went mostly to plan and there weren't many upsets, plus there were more points scored in the Wisconsin-Minnesota game than in the Baylor-TCU game, which I don't think anyone would have predicted. There were a couple games that could be called upsets, but none too surprising, as I mentioned before TCU and Baylor scored much less than anyone expected due to the hard rain that continued throughout the game. TCU ended up winning in double overtime 28-21, there were a combined 7 turnovers in the game, and Baylor who averaged 616 yards per game only got 335 and TCU who averaged 564 yards per game only got 302. But in the end it was TCU getting revenge for last season, when Baylor made huge comeback to give TCU their only loss on the season. Then later on in the night Stanford defeated Notre Dame 38-36 to essentially end the Irish playoff hopes. It seemed like Notre Dame had the game won, but with 30 seconds to go Stanford completed a pass over the middle that got them into field goal territory, and the kicker made a 45-yard field goal as time expired. Stanford still has a chance at the playoff, but it is a very slim chance.

Three playoff contenders in Iowa, Clemson, and Alabama struggled slightly but were all able to pull out victories on the road. In the Big Ten Ohio State trampled hated rival Michigan 42-13, but unfortunately for the Buckeyes, they probably missed their only opportunity to prove they belonged in the playoff. Ohio State lost to Michigan State at home and will now have to hope for other teams to stumble in order for them to get in. Which doesn't look entirely likely, their best hope would be Clemson losing to a North Carolina team who has won 11 straight. But the SEC Championship will likely be a blowout in favor of Alabama, their opponent Florida has really struggled in the past couple of weeks. The Gators have had difficulties beating inferior opponents like Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Florida Atlantic, and last week got wrecked by Florida State 27-2.

Michigan State cruised past Penn State 55-16 to clinch their spot in the Big Ten Championship game versus my Iowa Hawkeyes. Now with all the conference championship games set, the playoff picture seems very clear. As long as there aren't any upsets the playoff should be simple, Clemson needs to beat North Carolina and they're in, Alabama needs to beat Florida and they're in, Oklahoma is likely already in (Big 12 doesn't play a conference championship game), and the winner of Iowa-Michigan State will be in. Predictions Clemson 38 North Carolina 34, Alabama 30 Florida 7, Michigan State 27 Iowa 23. This is how I see the playoff shaping up 1. Clemson 2. Alabama 3. Michigan State 4. OU