(Aaron Torres is a journalist whose work has been published by Sports Illustrated online, and syndicated by USA Today and AOL.com. To read all his work, including this article in its entirety, please click here or visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

On Tuesday, Aaron looked at Part I of the 10 Biggest Storylines as we head into 2010. As we head into the holiday break, let's take a look at the top three storylines.


3. The Conclusion of the Most Gawd-Awful College Basketball Season in Years:

Look, anyone who knows me, knows I love college basketball. I stay up late to watch all the West Coast games. I check Andy Katz’s blog, even during the summer, when there’s nothing to report. Seriously, I grew up in Connecticut, meaning that most winters, I probably saw more of Jim Calhoun than I did my own parents.

Which is why it pains me to say this: This is one of the least inspiring groups of college basketball players, coaches, and storylines I can ever remember. It just is.

There are no truly great teams. No North Carolina from last year, Florida from 2007, or UConn of 2004.

Other than John Wall, is there a single player in the country you’re rearranging your schedule for? Ed Davis? Greg Monroe? Please. If I had a girlfriend, I’d blow those guys off in a second to go outlet mall shopping with her. But I don’t. So hence, I’m stuck with them.

Want to know the worst part? Kansas is undefeated and the top-ranked team in the country. Yet they're nowhere near as talented as the same Kansas team that won a National Championship just two years ago!

I’ve already eliminated all but three teams from National Championship consideration: Texas, Kentucky, and the above mentioned Kansas team. That's it.

So much for the suspense of March Madness, everybody else is too flawed to do any real damage. North Carolina has no point guard, Villanova has nobody down low, and Michigan State just isn’t that good, period. And please don’t get me started on Duke, Syracuse, or anybody else. Please don’t.

So that’s what we’re left with in college basketball—three months still to go in the season and only three legitimate contenders.

Don’t let me get you down, and feel free to fill out a bracket when your office pool starts. I’ll probably do the same. Just don’t expect me to be too excited when I do it.


2. Potential For Maybe the Most Exciting Super Bowl Ever:

Ok, ok, I know last year’s game was pretty exciting. And the year before that too. And we lost a tiny bit of luster when New Orleans lost to Dallas last weekend. But still, think about the potential storylines which could headline this year’s game:

Indianapolis going for perfection; the Saints looking to put the final stamp on New Orleans revival; Brett Favre coming out of retirement to win a Super Bowl for the long starved Minnesota franchise and riding off into the sunset…before coming out of retirement again in August to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, or even worse...the Buffalo Bills; Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb making one last run as Michael Vick holds a clipboard, and PETA holds a protest outside the stadium; The…wait for it…wait for it...Arizona Cardinals making a SECOND STRAIGHT (!!!!) trip to the big game, with Kurt Warner thanking God, and Larry Fitzgerald thanking his hairdresser after the victory; Tom Brady and New England looking for revenge from the 2008 game; San Diego finally fulfilling their promise as maybe the most talented team in the league.

Honestly, under any of those scenarios, how are you not watching this game? And how is it not better than last year?



1. Alabama-Texas:

It’s a sad thing really, but I’m starting to think that 2010 might peak by the end of the first week of the new year. That’s right folks, Alabama-Texas. And the 2010 BCS National Championship.

Now, I know I’m supposed to stay unbiased when it comes to sports. But with these two teams and this game, I really just can’t help myself.

What can I say, I like Texas. I like that Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy are best friends and go fishing and hunting together, even if it’s only because it makes easy jokes for me. I like that Will Muschamp gets uncomfortably sweaty during big games and probably reeks of bad B.O in coaches meetings.

And I like the fact that while Mack Brown might seem a little sleazy sometimes, no coach in college football treats the media better, or treats female sideline reporters more like his own daughter (Take that Charlie Weis!).

And Alabama, well, I like them even more. I like that Javier Arenas is my height (5’10". Okay, it’s really 5’9", but seriously, who’s counting?), and is still one of the scariest guys in college football.

I like that Mark Ingram looks like Carlton Banks, and that Greg McElroy may have the same hairdresser as Jay Cutler. And I like that some of the players wanted to dump Gatorade on Nick Saban after the SEC Championship game, only to get called off by Rolando McClain because he said they had one more game to win (Thank you to reader Andrew M., for sharing that story).

Mostly, I just really like both teams, and really love college football. It’s my favorite sport, and it's the end we’ve been waiting for: SEC vs. Big XII, Alabama vs. Texas.

And it's just the start of what is sure to be a great 2010.


(This is just part of Aaron's look at the 10 Biggest Storylines of 2010. To read Part I , or Part II in its entirety , please visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com )