I was ready to join the throng of angry hawkeyes demanding steve alford's head after the drake game, but after a couple confidence boosting blowouts of pernennial patsies at carver hawkeye arena we are looking good again and i think we are ready to be dangerous and surprise some people when big ten play begins on jan. 4th. we are such a young and inconsistent squad that it's hard to tell what kind of production we are going to get game in and game out, but those wins against georgia state, texas southern, and cornell are very valuable for building the young guys' confidence. that inconsistency is what you have to take when you have the kind of talent the hawks have this year, this is the most athletic iowa squad i have seen in a while, more than last year, but it will take a while before this squad surpasses last year's in quality. adam haluska has had 1 or 2 games when his shot has been off but his reliable scoring and three point shooting has carried us and he is the unquestioned leader of the team, while tyler smith has been a pleasant surprise with his ability to score with either hand and his boosts of athleticism. the return of mike henderson has been important in solidifying the point guard position, as he brings a tight handle and a veteran playmaker's calm to the point that noone else has on the roster. tony freeman has been a big disappointment so far, especially with shot selection, but he is a talented scorer no doubt. newcomer justin johnson has shown an impressive stroke from 3-point range, whle cyrus state has shown toughness, athleticism, and a willingness to bang, but he doesn't have much offensive skill and he can be a hack. the center position is our main problem and the major reason that we have such trouble rebounding the ball. seth gorney has good touch and can finish but his game is rooted to the ground and he is slow as molasses for a D1 center, while kurt looby has athleticism and long arms, but he is extremly skinny and gets pushed around quite a bit. as far as our positioning for the unofficial state championship we didn't do so well once again like last year, we beat iowa state pretty easily but lost a heartbreaker to northern iowa and got embarassed in that infamous drake game. iowa state is not very good this year, they don't play much defense, don't have an inside presence, or much of a go-to scorer, they just jack up shots. northern iowa was supposed to have a down year this season with the graduating of their big time scorer ben jacobsen but they have rode their post presence erik coleman to some big victories, with the main ones coming against MVC power witchita state and that come from behind victory over my hawks. drake is still playing the way all tom davis teams do, running up and down the court and pressuring like crazy, subbing in a new starting 5 every timeout, and we came out with no energy, no shots falling, and no efffort on the boards or on defense and we just couldn't keep up with their pace. i will be back with updates after the big michigan state big ten opener at home.

Haven't given much of an update on my NBA squad lately, i thought i might have to give up on them after the sickening yao injury but the fantastic return of tmac from his back spasms along with serious step-your-game-ups from juwan howard, luther head, and shane battier have kept us afloat and kept the team looking good. Current record is a very nice 19-12, good for third in our southwest division, where we have whupped the mavs and spurs and beat the lowly grizz twice. Mcgrady is playin like the old tmac again and it's fantastic to watch. i think all he really needed was a mental boost and a reassertion that he is the team's go-to-guy. he seems to have found his perimeter stroke again and he is driving and finishing (and dishing) with his phenomenal athleticism once again. very positive signs, but i still have to hold my breath whenever he takes the court because back spasms can come back anytime. juwan has played like the fab 5 juwan once again, providing consistent scoring with his automatic midrange shot and surprisingly hitting the boards pretty hard. luther head has been pouring in threes at a dizzying rate and making plays with his speed, while shane has stepped up his scoring and is shooting more threes and dikembe has done the best of abilties, grabbing boards and blocking shots. if our guys can continue to play this way and tmac stays healthy we should be able to stay afloat in the west, but unless yao returns on time and works his way back to dominant form before the playoffs i don't see us advancing too far in the postseason. i'm also sick of watching houston blow big leads, it started to show big time after losing to the lakers in multiple overtimes 2 weeks ago and it showed against the grizzlies last nite (we won) when we failed to put the game away by giving them threes and not making defensive stops. i could definitly see bonzi wells getting traded soon too, he has struggled to stay in shape and stay healthy and has stayed in van gundy's doghouse. he has gotten more technicals than anyone on the rockets so far and his defensive effort has been questionable, but he has shown flashes of the versatile inside scorer he can be. if he can't stay on the court though i see him getting traded. kirk snyder should also be back soon and inject the squad with some energy thanks to his driving.

Well, with even more bowls and plenty of controversy in the BCS, like every year, this bowl season looks to be one of the deepest and most entertaining in years. Im not gonna spend this whole article bitching about the BCS championship because its stated so much now that its just a part of college football and an excuse for analysts to talk for hours, and even though im strongly for a playoff its just not gonna happen in the near future so i prefer to dwell on the positives of college football (emotion, intensity, rooting for my iowa hawkeyes) instead of all the negatives put about by the corrupt NCAA. All that stuff just distracts you from the great game of college football, and crtics of the game obviously haven't watched too much this season to see what it is all about. so here come the bowls.

the poinsetta bowl opens up this postseason on december 19, and if anyone cares about the two teams (northern illinois vs. tcu) playing this is one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season. garrett wolfe, the dimunitive but speedy running back for northern illinois, is the nation's leading rusher by far and should have broken all the records the rate he was going at the beginning of the year, but he faded down the stretch and that was a main reason that his team faded as well. he is going up against a dominate tcu defense that is 4th in the nation against the run and is one of the most balanced and quick units around, but wolfe has proven before that he can run well over good units, as he did against the ohio state buckeyes in the season opener. wolfe will have to break some big runs to keep his team in the game because their QB situation is iffy with their starter getting seriously hurt and their defense is average in all areas, especially against the pass. tcu is an incredibly balanced team and in the upper echelon of mid-majors in college football with boise state and such. they have a great senior QB in jeff ballard, a hard-nosed and versatile player who knows how to run the option. the wolfe vs. run defense matchup will decide this game because tcu is a much more talented team.

the las vegas bowl pits BYU against Oregon. byu is one of the hottest teams around and probably the most underrated team in the country right now. oregon is the complete opposite, looking like a pac-10 contender to start the season but failing down the stretch and ending up in the cellar of the conference. the cougars have a high-powered offense and great balance, like tcu. their QB jon beck is one of the best in college football and definitly under the radar, hes an amazing leader and a great decision maker, for prove of his heroism just watch the last game of the season against utah when he made that game-winning td pass. oregon was looking great after their controversial win over oklahoma but they must have felt guilty because everything fell apart. their defense collapsed and their qb dennis dixon lost all confidence, a surprising turnaround seeing as he was considered a team strength earlier in the year. dixon is a athletic and a dual-threat but he started making costly mistakes and it cost the team. byu should run away with this one and john beck should have a monster day, as these are two teams headed in opposite directions.

the new orleans bowl pits rice against troy, not much from either team that warrants a watch except that rice is one of the feel good programs in college football right now, making their 1st bowl appearance since the 1960s, and the owl's playmaking wideout jarett dillard, a stud with 20 tds who is one of the best recievers in the game right now and a key reason for rice's resurgence. i would like to see rice pull out the win against sun-belt champion troy but i'm not too familar with either team's talent so it's hard to make a pick, but ill go with rice simply because of dillard.

south florida plays in the papa johns bowl against east carolina and in my opinion should get their 1st bowl win in school history with ease. they are very under the radar and a program on the rise, they play everyone in the nation tough and are very fast and athletic, especially on defense. i feel pretty confident that they are the 2nd best team in florida right now, to florida u, and we all know the south florida area is rich in talent. they don't have the advantage of sneaking up on people like last year but they have a pretty stingy and quick defense and an offense that makes big plays and can score in a hurry with its speed. frankly, east carolina is just too short on talent to put up much of a fight.

the new mexico bowl matches new mexico versus san jose state, one of the best stories of the year and one of the most improved programs around as well. new mexico shouldn't even be playing in a bowl but obviously the sponsors for this one wanted to draw some fans so they put the home team in, and san jose state should take them out with ease. they have a great coach and a balanced team that doesn't have one area stick out as being great but no major flaw either, and they are a solid team that should stick around as a bowl perenial for years to come and begin that stretch with a fairly easy win over new mexico.

utah plays tulsa in the armed helicopters bowl. utah is one of the best mid-major teams around and kind of underacheived this year, when they were expected to compete for that bcs bid going to a team from a lesser conference. they had that heartbreaking loss to byu in the last game of the season as well and should be riding some emotion and anger in this one. they are balanced and pretty talented on offense, but their catalyst is super-versatile eric weddle, a ball-hawking defensive back who's played all sorts of positions throughout the year on offense as well and has actually played most of the utes' snaps on offense all season long. he's proved dangerous at QB, throwing for a couple tds, and been a dangerous threat running the ball at the goaline too. tulsa is a solid team that showed sparks of being good throughout the season, they have a very efficient and solid QB, but they just don't have the overall talent to take down utah.

the hawaii bowl looks like one of the most exciting games of the bowl season, pitting the hometown university against arizona state, two high-powered offensive teams that lack on the defensive side of the ball. should be very high-scoring and unpredictable with big plays aplenty in this shootout, but either team could pull out the win. colt brennan, hawaii's amazing record-setting QB, is putting up video game numbers with 5,000+ passing yard and around 55 td passes, needing only 1 or 2 to break the ncaa record. even though he plays at a lesser program he should be a heisman front runner next season just because of the stats he puts up. he should have a field day with the horrid ASU defense. the sun devils have always been known for their offense and for their lowly defense, but this year they underacheived on both sides of the ball and once again failed to beat any of the major teams in the conference, costing head coach dick koetter his job. he also made a horrible decision and gave in to peer pressure when he promoted sophmore rudy carpenter ahead of junior sam keller at the quarterback spot, a better QB who was injured for most of the last season. this split the team chemistry-wise and rudy played pretty crappy all year long, this was a main reason for ASU's failure. they should play inspired for for coach koetter's last game though. i expect hawaii to win simply because their offense has been unstoppable all year long.

in one of the most irrelevant bowls this season, the motor city bowl, the more talented central michigan chippewas should take out middle tennessee state with ease, even without their head coach brian kelly, who left to take the cincinati job. they have some nfl prospects on defense and should play with emotion to prove to their former coach that he should have stayed, plus they got a wide talent advantage so i'm taking CMU in this one. for the emerald bowl, florida state has speed and athletes all over the place but thanks to poor and mistake-prone play from the QB position and underacheiving from halfback lorenzo booker their offense sputtered and killed the seminoles season, even though their defense was dominate all year long. ucla is just the opposite, a different and better team than they were last year riding the momentum of their huge win over usc. their defense, especially the pass rush, has been fantastic and their QB patrick cowan has shown steady improvement throughout the year and has great mobility. they will either have an emotional letdown after the usc game or will have tons of momentum, but i'm still taking FSU even though they are heading in the opposite direction of the bruins because they just have too much talent and too many good players to keep losing these games.

oklahoma state should beat alabama in the independence bowl, the crimson tide have had a poor season by 'bama standards and their offense has had trouble moving the ball all year, even though their defense is pretty dominating and one of the best in the nation. OK State is the opposite, with a high powered and versatile offense and a porous defense that has given up big yards through the air all year long. 'bama's failure to move the ball will cost them as the cowboys win a close one with big offensive plays. the aggies will beat the california bears in the traditionally high scoring holiday bowl because i just love their heart and their trio of running stars in hard nosed stephen mcgee, super-speedy big play man mike goodson, and beastly td machine jovorskie lane. california is the more talented overall team with do-it-all back marshawn lynch and big-play threat desean jackson, a speedy threat to score every time he touches the ball. they also have a dominating d-line and secondary when healthy, and even though the aggie's defense is much improved, as they showed against texas, it is not quite elite yet, especially in their young secondary. cal might not show up after a disappointing season when they were expected to compete for the pac-10's bcs bid or even a title, but if they come in with that attitude they won't win. if they come to play than they win, but i just love something about the much-improved and battle-hardened aggies (who should be undefeated with all those close losses) that i like, so that's who i pick, they are definitly a team on the rise.

rutgers should get their 1st bowl win in the school's long and storied history (played in 1st ever college football game) and finish off an incredible season by beating kansas state in the texas bowl. this is a really big falloff from where the scarlet knights could have possibly been, the orange bowl as the big east champ, but after that big win over louisville they lost to cincinnati and west virgnia, relegating them to the lowly texas bowl. greg schiano will have them fired up to play though and they have made too magical of a season to bow down now. rutgers has an aggressive defense and a fantastic running game on offense with blue-collar school hero brian leonard and star tailback ray rice. if they could have gotten more consistent play from QB mike teel they would have been an elite team for sure. kansas state showed improvement in spots and their offense had the potential to be explosive, as they showed against texas, but they are not as talented as rutgers at this point so i'm going with the original college football squad.

i question whether clemson will be motivated to play kentucky, a team on the rise, in the music city bowl, but they are a much more talented squad and should win if they come out with some energy and don't suffer a letdown from their disappointing finish. to start the year they looked like a lock to win the acc, but like always they lost down the stretch and got stuck in a crappy bowl game. they have speed and athleticism like few teams around, with an opportunistic and frenetic defense and a deep, dangerous running game. QB will proctor is a good athlete but struggled down the stretch. kentucky has a horrible defense, at least statistically, but they have a pretty nice offense and if clemson doesn't watch out they will be surprised by the resurgent wildcats. still look for clemson with the win though.

the sun bowl pits the surprising oregron state beavers against missouri. noone thought OSU would be in a bowl after their poor start but they are one of the hottest teams around and it all started with that upset win over usc. missouri is the opposite, starting out 6-0 but finishing 8-4. they have a fantastic young quarterback in chase daniels who surprised everyone by replacing record-setting QB brad smith and then some. they faded down the stretch but were still one of the better teams in the big 12 and a big surprise for the year, with a potent and unpredictable offense and a pretty good defense. i know oregon state is hot right now but i can't just forget the opposite starts of both teams and i think missouri is better, with a pretty unpredictable offense and 2 huge tight end targets to throw too and tear up the beaver's defense, and they're my pick.

south carolina vs. houston should be a good game in the liberty bowl. the ol' ball coach will have some trouble containing the cougar's high powered offense, led by stud QB kevin kolb. but the gamecocks have a very respectable defense that should keep up with them, and no matter who is at quarterback for south carolina they have the ability to make big plays on offense, and if they could get the ball to physical freak sidney rice than look for the offense to put up big numbers and put houston to sleep. i got south carolina winning this one because they played tough and scrappy all year long and played a tougher schedule than houston and came out of it respectable, but houston is a dangerous team that can put up points and this game could be close.

the insight bowl pits texas tech against minnesota, one of the biggest mismatches of the bowl season. tech will tear apart the gophers weak defense (in all areas, but particurally pass since that's what tech does) with their constant shotgun-formation, 5-wideout passing stuff. minnesota can put up some points too, with a great passing game led by bryan cuptio and a surprisingly dangerous running game even without starter gary russell thanks to academics. but with their poor defense tech should be unstoppable this could be a blowout.

maryland should beat purdue in the champs sports bowl. purdue has played no defense all year and while maryland is no offensive juggernaut (their stats are all at the bottom of D1 football, especially for their record) they are efficient and have good balance, and they can put up points if QB sam hollenbach is playing well. purdue can put up numbers but they also turn the ball over a lot and are lucky they are playing in a bowl, maryland is a better team even in a weaker ACC conference.

in the meineke car care bowl boston college squares off against navy, who could pull the upset and surprise the eagles. i pick BC because they are just bigger and faster than the midshipmen, but i don't think they'll be that motivated to play, especially with the sudden departure of their coach, and they kind of collapsed down the stretch of the season. navy has the best rushing attack in the nation but they basically never pass, but no team has been able to make them one dimensional so far. i give the advantage to BC just because of the difference physically.

my hawkeyes go up as big underdogs against the longhorns in the alamo bowl, iowa probably shouldn't even be playin in a bowl the way they performed during the 2nd half of the season (no effort, energy, injuries) but kirk will have them ready to play and motivated to take advantage of this opportunity we really don't deserve. texas is a superior team athletically but we have a lot more talent then people think, we are just a young team learning how to play tough consistently and how to play together. drew tate should have major motivation playing in his last game as a hawk in his home state and the texas secondary played really bad down the stretch for having all those all-americans, not a good combination. our defense was decimated by key injuries but if we can get a pass rush going with the return of kenny iwebema than we might have a chance to knock the banged up colt mccoy out of the game, as kenny's injury was the major blow to our defense. mccoy will not be 100 percent so we should take advantage of that, and i think things are aligning positively for iowa, so im bein the loyal fan and picking my hawks.

the peach bowl is a matchup between dominate defenses and young Qbs, so this should be a low scoring one as virginia tech takes on georgia. the hokies had the top defense in the nation this year and should cause major problems for frosh matthew stafford of georgia, but the 'dawgs played much better down the stretch and if stafford can make some big plays than georgia has a chance. but i think va tech's "d" will give the dawgs too much trouble, and their offense will ride the very productive brandon ore and the improving sean glennon to a win.

the miami hurricanes are not used to playing in the cold this time of year, especially not on the blue turf of boise at the mpc computers bowl, but they still have such great athletes after their nightmare season and much more talent than nevada, plus the motivation they will have playing for larry coker's last game and the death of bryan pata, so i give the edge to the U. they will have serious emotion to fight for coker and pata and to avenge the disappointing season they had, nevada is very dangerous on offense and they can make big plays but the speed advantage of miami wil be very evident, especially on defense, as the hurricanes cruise to a close win.

penn state and tennessee in the outback bowl is a tough one to predict, as both teams seem well-matched. penn is one of the most underrated teams around and are much better than their 8-4 record suggests, as those losses came against notre dame, ohio state, michigan, and wisconsin. they have a fantastic defense that is borderline dominate, with maybe the best linebacking corp in the nation led by two-time bednarik award winner paul posluzny. their offense has been pretty lethargic all year but they are breaking in a new QB, tony morelli, who has steadily improved as the season wore on, so that's expected. the volunteers were a surprise team this year, coming off a 5-6 season and going to a january bowl now. theri offense has been pretty nice, with a undeniable starting QB in erik ainge and a playmaking wideout in robert meachem. they fought through a tough SEC schedule and had the potential to go to a BCS bowl but they had a lot of close losses, and i just think their offense will put up more points than penn's, so im picking the volunteers.

Cotton Bowl: auburn is a better team than nebraska but they were inconsistent and lost some surprising games this year that kept them out of a BCS game, even though they beat florida. they have a great defense full of speed and playmakers, and they have a nice running game even though senior kenny irons underacheived big time, but their offense was often weak thanks to the weak arm of brandon cox, who in his defense was accurate. nebraska had a great passing attack and an emerging running attack as the season wore on, great balance, as well as a great pass rush. but they couldn't compete with the top teams in the big 12 and lost a lot of close games, and i think athletically auburn is a much better team who just had some tough breaks this year. should be close but auburn pulls it out.

if west virginia shows up ready to play and motivated they should take georgia tech to town in the gator bowl, always a disappointing team to me that i feel could do so much better than they do with all-world reciever calvin johnson. west virginia lost some close games and are one of the most dangerous teams in the nation, in my opinion the best in the big east anyway. their combo of pat white and steve slaton is unstoppable with their creative rushing. both are super speedy and freak athletes who are elusive and know how to use the team's rushing schemes to their advantage. white showed improvement as a passer but it is still not his strong suit and could be considered a weakness. slaton also fumbled too much in their losses. georgia tech should tear up west virginia's horrible secondary (and overall defense) if they can just get the ball to CJ, but they haven't been able to do that consistently his entire career. that's why i think it's a good thing that reggie ball is academically inelligle, as someone new needs to step in and throw the ball to him and reggie just wasn't that person, he seemed to care too much about running around and padding his own stats. tech has a deadly rushng threat that could also tear the mountaineers up and a fast and athletic defense, they would still be hard-pressed to keep up with west virginia's rushing theatrics. WV in a semi-close game.

wisconsin didn't play an overly taxing schedule but they are a good team that surprised everyone and fought through adversity, so they should beat a talented arkansas team in the capital one bowl. john stocco is a great leader who made a bunch of no-name receivers studs this year, and the badgers have a beastly rushing attack with bruiser p.j. hill that made their offense effective. arkansas is dangerous on offense because of unique play calling and versatile offensive machine darren mcfadden, a do-it-all speedster and heisman runner-up. they can score and break big plays at any time, even without much of a semblance of a passing game. should be close but wisconsin is talented and smart and balanced, they should make arkansas one dimensional and win.

michigan and usc in the rose bowl looks like the best game of the bowl season, 2 storied programs that could easily be in the title game. tons of talent and big names on both sides, and two well-respected head coaches and programs with tons of history. both squads had big seasons that ultimately ended in disappointment, with losses that kept them out of the title game. hopefully both teams will recover from their disappointment and get angry and motivated to play each other in a classic. the wolverines have a dominate defense with nfl prospects at every position, led by massive tackle alan branch and pass rusher lamar woodley. workhorse mike hart carries their offense and strong armed chad henne may be overrated but he can make big plays with a speedy cast of wideouts, led by td-machine mario manningham and speedy steve breaston. usc had to re-load on offense after losing two heisman winners, but they always get stud recruits so that's not a problem. john david booty had a very good year that ended bitterly against ucla, and the young defense became suffocating as the season ended, with a great pass rush and hard hitting from the linebackers and secondary. michigan just looked too dominate this year for me to go against them and they played ohio state better than anyone, their defense plus usc's recent offensive struggles equals success for the wolverines.

quick picks now as i must move on to other things, mainly iowa football, oklahoma's got too much speed and defensive stardom to bow down to cinderella favorite boise state in the fiesta bowl, who could shock the sooners with their high powered offense if oklahoma shows up not ready to play. i got the more talented sooners anyway, espeically if adrian peterson returns. louisville should end wake's dream season in the orange bowl, the demon deacons cannot keep getting by on efficiency and not turning the ball over, as the cardinals got too much offensive explosion for the undermanned wake forest team to endure. notre dame lost to all their big opponents this season and the sugar bowl should be no different. the irish defense gave up big yards through the air and big plays all year and just did not play well, and lsu's fast and explosive offense should tear them apart, especially with jamarcus russell, who will look to outplay brady quinn in his final game and better his draft status. the sugar bowl will also be played right in lsu's backyard as a virtual home game for them in new orleans. cincinati will beat western michigan in the international bowl, they played a tough schedule and almost upset top teams like virginia tech so they will beat the less talented WMU. lower bowl perennial southern miss will use their experience in these kinda games to take out bowl newcomer ohio, while ohio state takes the cake against florida in the national title game. i just dont see anyone beating the buckeyes, they have been fantastic and unstoppable in all facets of the game all year and while the gators are extremly talented and have the best shot to knock out OSU, they have not been perfect and exposed plenty of offensive flaws all year long, while the buckeyes apparently have none. troy smith plays his best in big games, he is a leader and a playmaker and will go out the right way. the buckeyes just have too many offensive playmakers, florida's "d" is one of the best around but so was michigan's, and look what happened to them.

The deepest and most talented conference in the NBA is also the most wide-open. The top two teams, Dallas and San Antonio, are widely expected to finish 1 and 2 (though the order is anyone's guess), while the much improved rockets and the chris paul-led hornets battle it out for 3rd, or perhaps higher if everything goes well for them. the memphis grizzlies are looking like they will struggle for a while with paul gasol hurt, as he provided almost everything for them production-wise and with leadership. some of their young athletic guys better step up and they have to keep their other players healthy because even though mike miller is a great shooter and talented overall offensive player he's not the type of guy to carry a team on the offensive end because he is too soft. last year memphis had a great regular season but were probably the worst team in the playoffs after getting spanked by the dallas mavericks. pau gasol had a huge regular season and fought back the criticisms that he was too soft and more of a finesse guy and finally came out as a star player. i dont see how you could see this guy's beard and call him a softie after that. the grizz were a great defensive team last season, definitly one of the best in league, and they played a really tough and scrappy style to win games. they didnt have a lot of athleticism or young talent, but they've really tried to change that now. without pau gasol, however, i just dont see how they can win, he was the center of everything they did and not only their main rebounder but also one of the team's best passers. he brought an intensity and energy every night that they don't seem to have right now. they also lost their ultimate role player and the league's best glue guy, shane battier, to the rockets. that's basically all their leadership right there and a whole lot of their toughness and energy. mike miller can stroke it and has an improved post-up game but can't take over games like pau did, and if they think they're gonna solve their center problems with career underacheiver stromile swift and average greek guy jake tsakalidis then they are very mistaken. hakim warrick has major hops and athleticism with potential as a slasher but he has to show an improved offensive game and be a main scorer now, as well as talented rookie rudy gay, who has all the nba tangibles but disappeared in game during college and doesn't seem to have the right mindset or work ethic to be a superstar. they should hang with teams because they have a good coach and will play stingy defense, but they will have trouble scoring and matching up with some of the league's better big men since they lack much of anything at center. someone needs to establish themself as a point guard as well, hopefully damon stoudemire will play well coming off a major injury, and they need their young athletes to step up their scoring (because this team has a lot of vets and is pretty old) if they wanna have a chance to hang in there with the rest of their division until their star comes back.

the new orleans hornets made an amazing turnaround last year with basically the same average crew, plus one name: chris paul. chris paul is the best young point guard in the league and one of the best period in the league, 2nd only to steve nash in my opinion until he gets a three point shot and surpasses him. paul is the single reason for the hornets being anything resembling a contender and he makes a huge impact on his teammates, makes them a lot better. this is the same crew that finished worst in the league two years ago, pretty average and no-name, but paul's up-tempo playing style and outstanding court vision made them all look like most improved player candidates, none more so than power forward david west. west was a hard-nosed forward who really went after the ball and was a good rebounder and mid-range shooter but he evolved into a star with some impressive numbers last season. paul also got him the ball in key situations and made west a clutch player after all those big shots he made. chris is fast and very well-rounded, a great finisher and a great teammate who gets the ball to his crew in spots where they can be effective, really the ultimate playmaker and leader and still so young as well, i cannot say enough about him. the main issues they had last season, besides lacking overall talent compared to other squads in the deep west, was the lack of a real big man or scoring center they could build their offense around and not enough shooters to thrive off paul's drive-and-kicking. they got rid of immature underachiever jr smith in the offseason, he really wasn't doin much or getting along with coach byron, and also traded pj brown, who's offensive skill has declined considerably but who's leadership, experience, and toughness is impossible to measure in stats. they picked up well-known sharpshooter peja stojakovic, a star in sacremento for many years but hes been in a shooting slump for a while now, and grabbed bobby jackson for some instant scoring off the bench. for big men they grabbed tyson chandler from the bulls, a long and lean athletic player who has almost no offensive game but has talent as a shot blocker and offensive rebounder and might thrive in the up-tempo offense of new orleans as a finisher on the break. they also grabbed two raw rookie big men who could help them considerably down the line, physical shot-swatter hilton armstrong, who was unheard of before last season at uconn, and nc state forward cedric simmons, a long and athletic player with good instincts and defensive ability but who has a long way to go in fine-tuning his game. key guys returning are the athletic slasher desmond mason, a great finisher for paul, sweet shooting rasual butler, known for his range and streakiness, and of course west, who's become one of the best complementary players in the league. it will be a fight for the hornets to make the playoffs because this conference is so competitive but with paul anything is possible, and he does have improved pieces around him. the team just has to jell and get off to another hot start to build that confidence back up, i just don't know if they have the overall talent and depth to bring it every night and compete with the best in the west.

the rockets are much improved depth-wise over last year, but a major injury to either one of the stars (yao and tracy) would still be devastating and strongly hurt our playoff chances. im not not buyin all this title talk with my rockets until they prove they can get past the 1st round of the playoffs either, but this season they have the talent to do so and more. our star inside-outside combo rivals any in the league and is enough to make us a good playoff team in itself, but since we cannot rely on both injury-prone players to make it through the season the management picked up some nice role players in the off-season. van gundy teams always play fantastic defense, especially in the paint, and make it tough for opponents to get their shots off. van gundy's offenses always rely around the big man and are never explosive or fastbreaking, but since he has the weapons to do both now you'll see him be a little more open with his offense this year than in seasons past. don't get me wrong though, yao is still the center of the offense and rightfully so seeing as he is the only dominate big man still playing in the nba, which is shifting very rapidly towards a fast-paced small ball movement. you cant tell me shaq is still a dominate player, maybe with his size but his speed, conditioning, and offensive skill have declined rapidly and he is essentially used as a special role player, whose job is to draw a bunch of attention in the post and pass out of double teams so his 'mates can get good looks. yao came on to end last season and finally put his height and offensive skill to use by aggressively attacking the basket and becoming virtually unstoppable, but the return of tmac makes it uncertain if yao can keep up that production. van gundy is no idiot, so i say yes. i wish i could say the same for tmac, whose back injuries look to affect him long-term. he is still a great scorer and dangerous shooter rising above the defense, but his driving ability and explosiveness is fading fast and he cannot rely on taking tough jump shots over the defense every game to get his buckets. we should be good as long as these two remain (mostly) healthy, as our role players are much improved. we got guys who can hit open shots, a problem last year, and a bunch of "good guys" who fit in with the good guy personas of yao and tracy and players who play the hard-nosed defense-1st style that pleases van gundy, like shane battier. shane might not have the athleticism or star potential of rudy gay, who we traded in the draft to get battier, but shane is the league's ultimate role player who does all the little things coaches love, is a suffocating defender, and he hits the opens shots. he basically does everything that will make van gundy happy and he is a great fit for us with his versatility. we picked up kirk snyder, who injects the backcourt with hops and athleticism, excellent at driving to the basket. other new players are greek point guard vassillis spanoulis, an aggressive and high energy playmaker who lacks much of a consistent jumpshot but who loves to attack the defense, and bonzi wells, a late signing and a major steal if wells ever gets healthy. bonzi can score in the post and rebound like a beast against taller opponents, it's just a matter of keeping him motivated and getting him playing time. we should make the playoffs in the deep west because we have a great mismash of talent, we just need to get good chemistry and get the players playin together, and if our stars are healthy much more is possible.

The spurs are experienced and balanced and built for a title with all the right pieces, plus they will have major motivation after their defeat at the hands of the mavs in last year's playoffs. they gotta stay healthy, especially tim duncan, because they don't have the elite depth or athleticism of other western teams. dallas probably has the deepest and most versatile roster in the league, plenty of athletes and talented offensive weapons and guys who play multiple positions. they have stepped up their defensive discipline for coach avery and their offense is potent as usual, the only problem with it is that everything they do on offense ends up 1 on 1, which bogs things down and really disrupts the flow of the game if the shots aren't falling. the spurs still ride the ultimate fundamentally sound big man, tim duncan, for their offense and he still delivers. he should be back to his old form after suffering through foot injuries last season and career lows in production, even though he still had a great year. tony parker is still improving and is only 24, and w/ his quickness defenses cannot stop him from getting to the basket. manu ginobli is talentwise and athletically up there with some of the elite guys in the nba, but the way he recklessly throws his body around on his drives will eventually lead to him breaking down and suffering some chronic injuries, and his out of control style cannot last forever. he hits open threes as well and should have major motivation after his bad foul on dirk in game 7 of their playoff series against the mavs last year. there isnt a whole lot of depth and the team is the nba's oldest, but they have plenty of experience and veteran leadership and they know how to win. they really need to establish a center or low post threat opposite duncan as well and i dont think fabricio oberto is the guy to do it, but the plodding rasho nesterovic and nazr mohammed sure werent the right guys either. the mavs have the unguardable sharpshooter dirk nowitzki on their side and he should be angry about his passive performances in the final 4 games of the nba finals last year, and he always finds ways to improve his game and his aggressiveness each year. josh howard is a versatile athlete who can guard a bunch of positions and score in a variety of ways, and is a great glue player. jason terry is an explosive scorer and dangerous shooter who has a rep as a stud in the clutch after last year. they got a lot more depth in the backcourt and guys who can come in and do a lot of things, like anthony johnson, who can score and play good defense. and of course there's the lightning quick devin harris, who changes games with his penetration, but he needs to work on his j to keep defenses honest and staying under control. their posts don't give them any inside offense, but desagana diop is a quick and and long-armed impact defender while erik dampier can be a beast inside, especially on d and w/ the boards, if he can ever show a little heart. both these teams are major title contenders and have plenty of playoff experience and some of the top stars and coaches in the league, and should be competing for the division title all year long.

It's kind of hard to start this off without shedding a few tears, because even though im happy we got lucky enough to be invited to the alamo bowl, which we don't deserve, this season has not been anything like it was supposed to be or what i expected. the expectations and hype we carried into this year is what makes this wasted season so depressing, and the fact that we played maybe the worst football in the country over the month of november, a shocking opposite from what is usually expected here in iowa city and has been a signature of a kirk ferentz team, that we always play our best ball in the month of november. every year since kirk has come here and rebuilt the program we have been known to get off to slow starts and slowly start to surge and dominate as the season rolls on, but it has been the complete opposite this year, as we looked like a big ten contender early but slowly started unraveling due to countless reasons, some controllable and some not, as we looked like the worst team in the big ten over the last few weeks. it's pretty disheartening for the future as well since we don't have the 5-star recruits that the other schools are getting so if we are playing bad now we might not be able to make the improvements for the future. a crappy season like this doesn't help our recruiting either, as every big win brings in recruits and every big loss shuns them. at least our recieving corps is all young and should improve and get more consistent, as they were a main reason for our failures down stretch thanks to some very inopportune drops that killed our momentum and cost us a shot in games. the thing that really personified the depression of this season and was a culmination of this losing frustration was the benching of our beloved QB, drew tate, in the 3rd quarter of the minnesota game after some horrible throws that were killing our momentum, most notably a pick in the redzone on their 5 yard line when we could have taken our 1st lead. his competitive and intense nature that have so defined him and made him a legendary leader throughout his 3-year iowa career was no hurting him and an object of much scorn as he screamed in his reciever's and linemen's faces and threw his helmet to the ground after bad plays. this kind of heart-on-your-sleeve mentality is praised when the team is winning but criticized when you're losing. injuries also played a big problem in our failures, as we could not stop anyone down the stretch. the only defensive effort i was satisfied with was the loss against michigan. we played with an intensity and toughness not seen for the rest of the year, as you could see the determination on their faces to turn the season around and forget about that shocking loss to indiana. we shut down mike hart for the 1st half and kept our team in the game, since our offense could do nothing, but when mike hart started heating up and our offense kept up its conservative and ineffective ways we couldn't hold on for the win. the biggest injury for our defense was kenny iwebema, considered maybe our best player in the preseason and an all big-ten pick last year. he's a physical freak, a big guy and a pass rusher who enabled us to put the occasional pressure on the QB. he also drew lots of attention and made the other linemen look better, but when he went down he made our defensive line, which was supposed to be a team strength this season, into our most obvious weakness. one our team's keys for winning this year was to stay healthy because we have almost no depth, and since that didn't happen our defense could make no stops down the stretch. norm parker never blitzed because he knew our corners couldn't handle opposing recievers in man-to-man coverage, especially w/out adam shada, and even though it was frustrating to watch below average QBs get tons of time to pick apart our zone coverage and look like stars, he was right. our corners are horrible, especially shada's back-up brian fletcher, whom offenses painfully picked on all year. even our vaunted hard-hitting safeties couldn't cover to save their life. for proof of this just watch the northwestern game, when paschal could be seen numerous times chasing after a reciever with his back turned to the ball and just letting the reciever catch an easy pass. injuries to pashcal for a few games as well as to our blue-collar defensive tacklers mitch king and matt kroul also hurt us, but the main injuries on the defensive end that put the dagger in us were iwebema and shada just because their back-ups were not worthy starters and affected the play-calling with their poor play. maybe drew tate's injuries were much worse than he showed as well, as he hinted at that in the minnesota press conference. if this was a factor, my apologies to drew, and i hope for his sake that the once worshipped iowa star did struggle with injuries and that his poor play towards the season's end was not unexplainable. my last complaint with this season's failure has to do with our coaching, which i wouldn't have dared question in seasons past. the play-calling was incredibly conservative, and though kirk might not admit it it had a deciding hand in multiple games. against michigan we were fourth and inches on the goaline and kicked a field goal when we were down 13-3, and we never scored again. the killer was against northwestern, when we were down 14-7 on there 37-yard line in the 4th quarter and punted it!! kirk really needs to show some heart there. for a while i felt like i was the only one noticing this, but i finally got some support in that area as announcers and fellow iowa fans began to hammer kirk with insults on his radio show at the end of the season. our offense was pretty good, i don't blame the coordinator, but a lot of drives we had were shot because of turnovers. tate threw a lot of bad passes and they were all at horrible times, twice at the goaline this season. we also fumbled too much. the defense was too conservative and we gave opposing offenses too much space, but i already stated that bad personnel forced norm parker to call games this way. ultimately it comes back to kirk. i wouldn't dare call for his head after the amazing rebuilding job he has done here and the success he has had the past few years, but his insistence to play the field-position game against our opponents has been our downfall, as the players lose confidence and momentum. all the good coaches have to take some chances, like bob stoops and pete carroll, and kirk won't step over the hump and gain his player's full trust until he starts to show some fire. it's not really kirk's fault, but someone needs to step up and be a leader on this team and shockingly noone has done so, especially not tate. it eventually comes down to execution, and we have been inconsistent with that all year.

noone would expect any semblance of disaster in our 1st six games, when we went 5-1 with our only loss coming against the number 1 team in the nation, ohio state, but we would fade horribly in our next 5 games, losing 4 of them. the thing that made the losing so shocking was how uncharacteristic of a kirk ferentz team it was to lose games in november and the fact that all the pieces were apparently in place for a successful season, it's pretty sad that drew tate had to end his great career this way, hopefully he can deliver a monster bowl performance (against either texas a&m or texas tech) because im sure he has a bitter taste in his mouth from his benching against the gophers. our wins included an easy one over 1-AA montana, were we did everything we were supposed to and showed off all our weapons on both sides of the ball, looked like a positive beginning to a good season. we needed a miracle goal-line stand in overtime to beat syracuse the next week, but i was more relieved then disturbed because drew tate was hurt and his athletic backup jason mansen has yet to be too impressive in any of his starts, though he didn't play horrible in this game. we beat rival iowa state in a passionate home game, drew tate was an amazing leader and put up a great 2nd half to solidify the comeback. we opened up the big ten with an easy win over the horrible illinois fightin illini, one of the worst teams around even though they have a lot of talent for the future. we played conservatively and our offense frequently stalled but our defense was dominate while there offense was horrible, and we made the big plays to pull away. we played hard but lost the big game to OSU, the talent advantage was just obviously not ours and we committed too many turnovers that killed any momentum we had. we whupped purdue in a great rebound game the next week, our offense rolled thanks to fantastic balance and our defense forced turnovers and contained the boilermakers dangerous speed. unfortunately we only won one game for the rest of the season, against non-conference foe northern illinois, a weak mid-major whose only claim to fame was star running back garrett wolfe, a tiny and versatile speedster who put up monster numbers to start the season and generated heisman hype but who faded big time down the stretch, including this game and thats the main reason they lost. tate didn't play but jake christinsen got the nod and played well, gave the offense some good balance but we were not explosive and still needed a late touchdown to seal it. we lost a stunning game to indiana, who rallied in the 2nd half and became unstoppable on offense with wideout james hardy, we made no stops and lots of key players got hurt as our momentum and lead died, and mistakes basically handed the game to them. we still had a chance at the end but a dropped pass by andy brodell led to a game-defining pick, basically exemplified our season. we would lose a defensive battle to michigan even though we played really hard and tough football, mike hart just broke away in the 2nd half and we could not generate the offense we needed. we would go on to lose embarassingly to northwestern at home, defintily the most embarassing loss i have seen in my years of watching iowa, not only because of how bad the wildcats were this season but how bad we played and lost and the level of futility we had on offense. we played well against wisconsin the next week at home but lost anyway, and then lost at minnesota to close the season and make them bowl eligible, handing them the floyd of rosedale for the 1st time in years and allowing the gopher seniors to beat iowa for the 1st time. some of these losses were just embarassing because of how pathetic our offense was and the turnovers we committed, we truly had no chance in some of these games and looked like the worst team in the big ten by far. we'll see if i can be more positive after the alamo bowl, which ill be heading to. im not sure who we'll be playing, my guess is either missouri or texas tech, but i read on cbs last nite that they have texas in there as a possibility. that would be extremly exciting and should get the black and gold passionate and into their football team again, it would also be a great game for recruting, my only fear is that we would get blown out.

all-big ten: the only hawkeye to garner 1st team honors was offensive lineman mike jones, our massive senior who for the most part was our best and most consistent o-lineman. he's big and he's a senior, but our line was average this year and i dont know if anyone from our squad really deserved these honors. fellow o-lineman marshal yanda, another massive senior and homegrown favorite, got 2nd team, i personally think yanda had a better season than jones but it's probably just because im still thinking about his monster pancake block in the iowa state game i was at. other 2nd teamers were hard-hitting safety marcus paschal, who struck fear into recievers going over the middle everywhere and was equally as menacing smashing into the running back. scott chandler landed 2nd team, and while he was our biggest and most consistent target and he scored the most receiving tds on the team there were stretches were he disappeared. honorable mention guys were our punter andy fenstermaker and kicker kyle slicher. andy was our only bright spot with his excellent punting to end the season while kyle played pretty consistently but missed a lot of big kicks. mike elgin, another solid o-lineman, got honorable mention as well as tackle-machine linebacker mike klinkenborg and defensive end bryan mattison, the only positive on the d-line when iwebema got hurt, as he forced a lot of fumbles and has great instincts sticking his hand up to deflect a pass.