Sam Bradford's 4th Quarter and The Big Ten's New Year's Day Massacre
Did you see Jared Cunningham's dunk in Oregon State's victory over the Arizona Wildcats?
It was sick to say the least as the six foot guard came out of nowhere to throw down an offensive rebound. Cunningham lost his balance upon landing, which means that he jumped really high.
He also tied Vince Fritz's streak of 34 straight free throws then went and missed the one that would have given him the Oregon State record.
The Rookie Of The Year Had a Bad Fourth Quarter
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When the Rams took Sam Bradford over Ndamukong Suh, I went on record saying that it was a bad pick. This decade has not been good for No. 1 overall quarterback picks.
Alex Smith is about to leave the San Francisco 49ers via free agency.
JaMarcus Russell has been put into the Ryan Leaf category.
Matthew Stafford has been injury prone.
Sam Bradford was the best rookie this year as he led the Rams to seven wins. His list of no-name receivers let him down as he kept hitting them in the hands. He threw what Trent Dilfer of ESPN would call a dime in the second half and the ball fell right threw the hands of his receiver.
Having said that, Bradford's fourth quarter of his first "playoff" game was rather horrid. The dropped passes piled up, but the choice to try and squeeze the ball into a covered receiver was very bad. The Seahawks took that interception down for the clinching field goal and Bradford spent the rest of the game on his back.
Maybe next year, kid.
Michigan Should Keep Rich Rodriguez
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The three year tenure of Rich Rodriguez has been thoroughly humbling for both he and the Michigan football program. The experiment of the spread in the Big Ten might be a success because the Wolverines do score a ton of points.
What happened to their defense though?
Mississippi State scored 52 points on Michigan? The Bulldogs were the fifth place team in the SEC West. The Wolverines had a 14-10 lead after the first quarter then were outscored 42-0.
That is six touchdowns to zero.
Michigan needs to fire Rodriguez, but as a fan of Ohio State I say give the guy another year.
Michigan State Was a Big Ten Co-Champ
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I was one of those who felt that Michigan State deserved to go to the BCS over Wisconsin and Ohio State. The Spartans do not have a storied football program and their 11 win season should have put them ahead of Ohio State's 11 win season. The Buckeyes will be tough again next year but can we really expect the Spartans to have another great season anytime soon?
They were about to match up against their old coach, Nick Saban, who has had quite a journey since leaving East Lansing. LSU to Miami to Alabama and burning bridges at every stop for Saban.
MSU coach Mark Dantonio had his own journey through this season and it sure ended with a thud. When Alabama jumped out to a big early lead, they were not going to let Michigan State come back on them like Auburn had done in the Iron Bowl.
But 49-7, ouch. That's seven touchdowns to one if you are counting.
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Wisconsin Falls To Another Good Team
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Wisconsin played three really good teams this year and they ended up 1-2 in those games.
They lost by ten points to Michigan State on the road. They took a big early lead then closed out Ohio State late at home.
They were the highest rated team in the Big Ten and that sent them to the Rose Bowl over the Michigan State team that beat them for a matchup with TCU.
The Wisconsin offensive line was very decorated and they led the Badgers to over 200 yards rushing. Wisconsin was never able to take the lead though and that negated their advantage on the ground.
Wisconsin scored over 70 points three times but as we saw with the New Year's Day Massacre, the Big Ten was not what we thought they were.
How Great Is The SEC?
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The Pac-10 struggled to the finish. The Big 12 was full of average teams. The Big East and the ACC were outshone by the Mountain West and the WAC.
The SEC was the best conference again but it seemed that the Big Ten was a solid second place conference this football season. Iowa and Illinois get the Big Ten out to a 2-0 Bowl record.
Then the calendar turned to 2011 and the Big Ten had an epic fail.
0-5 for a 2-5 Bowl record.
Blown out by the SEC teams. A loss by the Big Ten champ to the Mountain West champ.
All the while, the SEC will be playing for their fifth straight National Title.
The SEC is the NFL farm system and it should be the best conference for a while.
The End For Brett Favre
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Maybe we can now celebrate the career of Brett Favre as he has retired from the game.
He goes out as a sure fire Hall of Famer with as many Super Bowl wins as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Kurt Warner.
He also has as many Super Bowl wins as Mark Rypien, Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer.
If he does get an itch in the next few months, I hope he will at least try to go to training camp. The guy is older than Bob Dole and he needs the practice.
College Basketball Conference Play Begins
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There are a few more college Bowl games.
The NFL playoffs should be great, especially in the loaded AFC.
But March Madness is the next big thing in the American sporting landscape to get hyped about.
As the conferences begin their round robin schedules, we are over halfway toward the NCAA Tournament.
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