Cal Time!

I wasn't going to let it get to me this time around. I wasn't going to partake in the trash talking. No, not this year. Heck, I am not even in California. I'm in New York. I thought I could do without getting riled up about this game, but I can't. Whether it is my friend rocking his Cal student section shirt to our graduate school class yesterday, or reading the message boards online, I just have to say something. I'll preface by saying I have the utmost respect for Cal as an academic institution. They are the #1 public school in the nation and have been. Heck they gave birth to UCLA 90 years ago. However, Cal fans seem to forget their former Southern Branch has overtaken big brother by quite a lot since. We don't have to count the higher applicant pool (10,000 people difference), or the lower admission rate (the theme of the last 10 years). Maybe how Cal's three biggest rivals (Stanford, U$C, and "little" brother) have the most national championships. But this week that doesn't matter. It's football. No reason to sweat over how Cal inspired Sons of Westwood, the colors, or even the name of UCLA. All of those are true Cal Bears, we know. So let's do a quick guide to how to make an annoying Cal fan who is trying to talk trash about the UCLA program shut up.

Cal fan: We have been so much better than you this decade.
UCLA fan: You have been better than us. You would consider this your best decade in sixty years, yet if you total the amount of conference wins you barely beat us. You also have a 6-4 against us and the same amount of Rose Bowls as us. And that is what we call a decade to forget.

Cal fan: When was the last time you guys played at home in January?
UCLA fan: Not since 1999. Which happens to be 40 years after your team did. And just to make something clear, the Washington schools, the Oregon schools, U$C, ASU, and your arch-rival Stanford have appeared in the Granddaddy of Them All. That's be 8/9 other conference foes.

Cal fan: No one likes UCLA football, it's like half full.
UCLA fan: Last year after a 4-8 season and a 7-6 season we had 66,000 people. Yes, that's roughly 72% of the capacity but still 5,000 more than Cal averaged in an era where fans in Berkeley have some optimism. How did the 90's attendance figures go for you?

Cal fan: Cal football has a rich tradition.
UCLA fan: If by rich tradition you mean no Rose Bowl since Jan 1, 1959, and a losing record against Stanford, U$C, and UCLA. In fact, all of those schools has at least 10 more victories in the head-to-head match-up. So if that counts as rich, yes. Very rich.

105 points, say WHAT?

Look out Big East, here comes Corey Fisher. The guard from Villanova recently did his>best impersonation of Wilt Chamberlain at a summer league game by not only breaking the century mark but by doing so by five points, although when you score that much I suppose that's somewhat statistically insignificant but still... wow! According to The Hoop Doctors, he scored 105 out of the 138 points his team scored, which accounts for a cool 76% of his team's offensive production. Yes, when a team scores 138 points in a 40 minute game it probably means that defense was not the top priority for the opposition, but you still got to love Fisher's performance. A player has to be really darn good to be able to nail 23 three pointers on a "mere" 28 attempts (82%). Who in the world can do that in practice? Probably a few of those professional guys, who get paid to play ball. This is an amateur who did this during a game, which has to mean his legs and wrists were getting tired. Especially after he allegedly scored 72 of the points in the first half. This is the middle of the summer, not conference season. No way is he in that amazing of shape to not have to try really, really hard to score so much. Finally, if you were on the other team, would you let some one drop triple digits on you? I know I wouldn't, and I'm not a competitive basketball player (sometimes, not always). So Corey Fisher, congrats. That is one heck of a performance, simply amazing.

The Reciprocal Relationship

Some relationships in life such as higher velocity -> higher momentum, lower resistance -> lower voltage used, and higher SAT scores -> higher chance of getting into college are called (directly) proportional relationships. Others such lower radius -> higher force are called inversely proportional relationships, or reciprocal ones. Well, we can now add another one of the type. When adrenaline goes up intelligence goes down. This one should be rightfully credit to U$C Fullback Stan Havili. Mr. Havili decided that such theory, which many Trojans might consider analogous to Einstein's theory of relativity, justifies breaking the cheekbone of a teammate in practice. Really Stanley, really? Just because emotions run high, doesn't mean breaking a bone in a teammates body is justified. There are plenty of other ways to be competitive without having to break a bones. You can trash talk, get in their faces with dumb jumping, or even to light shoving. I'm sure that there are many other ones you can do, but those three are the ones that come to mind. The bottom line is this, when emotions run high, don't break someone else's bones, especially of that someone happens to be the guy who come Saturdays will wear the same colors as you.

But hey, when the "school's" motto is FIGHT ON! can you really blame ole Stanley?

Georgetown Girls

It seems like Laker players are all over YouTube these days. First it was Ron Artest and then it was Shannon Brown. But since Ron Ron is much more ridiculous and actually "raps" in his video, I'll focus on that. Plus, since it is closely related to college, all the more reason to blog about it. For those who have not seen the video yet, here it is:

I really wish I knew where to start about critiquing this fine piece of music (and video). So here we go:

1. According to basically everyone, Ron Artest attended St. John's university, which happens to be a Big East school, just like Georgetown. Since when do rappers talk about girls from schools in the same conference? Well aside from the fact that most rappers never attended college, like zero percent of the time. So this seems a little ridiculous. What's wrong with St. John's girls? Too New York for Ron Ron?
2. Georgetown girls are not nearly that hood, unless of course they play on the women's basketball team. Last time I checked, Georgetown costs like 40-50k per year and is also a fine academic institution (ranked #23 on US News's ranking) so no way will Ron Artest and his homie Killa Kyleon picked them up from some place that looks like the inner city.
3. I don't think that the overall Georgetown female population hangs out around strange rappers wearing a "hoed out" #21 jersey. Sure, Jason Clark happens to wear it nowadays but who cares? Why not rep' someone much better like Greg (Craig) Monroe? How about literally anyone else on the 2010 team? The video was released that year, was it really that hard to find a more relevant jersey?
4. This is not really a new point, just a summary. All the Georgetown girls I met when I visited back in March look and act nothing like the ladies in this video. Yes, they like to party with NBA players (Shelley, I know about Roy), and yes, they are fine looking, and most importantly, have a good time. Here is how I would have portrayed the Georgetown girl: alcohol drinking (at Rhino's), hard studying, sombrero wearing, girl. Probably rocking some gray shirt that doesn't make them look too slutty, but maybe not. Who knows.

And the Next Contestant is...

Well the news today make the SEC seem even sketchier than college aged men listening to Miley Cyrus. A 4th school was contacted by the NCAA about a possible agent connection with a player (or more). Clearly, this is no good news for the SEC, nor for the NCAA. However, it is nice to see the organization many consider weak actually be proactive about a serious issue. Now it is just time to see what actually happens in terms of findings and possible sanctions. This will be an interesting rest of July and month of August! Can't wait (for the season to actually start that is).

P.S. The 4th SEC school is Georgia.

6 Degrees of Separation - NCAA Crusade Style

Since a new school has been added to the apparent crusade the NCAA is on against agents infiltrating college football, I figured why not try to link up all these schools thus far that have been targeted. So far according to my records, those schools are North Carolina, USC, Florida, Alabama, and of course, U$C. Without further ado, here we go:

1. Alabama beat Florida for the SEC title while in the process dethroning it from the Nation Championship.

2. USC's coach, Steve Spurrier, is Flordia's former coach and Heisman trophy winner.

3. UNC has 13 players investigated, with the main player being good friends with the one being questioned at USC.

4. UNC's Herman Davidson hails from Long Beach Poly, where he was teammates with four current Trojan players.

5. All four of those players were recruited (at least initially) by current Seahawk and former Trojan lier Pete Carroll.

6. Pete Carroll recruited Reggie "Show me the money" Bush and coached him for his three seasons in the Ketchup and Mustard.

There you go, a bit of a stretch, but sometimes you have to put a bit of an effort to implicate and connect all bad things to U$C. But just a bit, not too much effort, there's no need to try that hard to achieve it.

USC Being Investigated for Violations

Except this time it is the real USC, South Carolina. And unlike the Trojans, they will not be playing dumb and avoiding investigators. There is only one player currently in question according to The State. The reason the NCAA even got to him is because he is good friends with the main player under investigation at UNC (not to be confused with either USC). While it is not a good sight to see so many schools being investigated (now Florida is too), what the NCAA is doing is trying to clean up the sport as much as it can. Does it mean there is a huge problem in college football? Probably not. However, no reason not to get the few bad apples out of there before the reputation of a school and the sport is shattered. Additionally, it is nice to see the coach who's player is being investigated not deny anything, but rather be proactive. It also doesn't hurt that in the process he takes a shot at Pete Carroll. Good for you Steve Spurrier! Maybe Spurrier should be the one writing a book about winning forever. After all, he won a Heisman and a National Championship that haven't been taken away from the record books like the former coach of the "other" USC.

More Underaged Drinking at Notre Dame? So What?

I just did my daily browse through Yahoo! Sports blogs, and came across a blog post about more college kids getting arrested for partying and drinking even though they are under the legal age to drink (21). To be honest, the only reason this is any news is because one of them is Nate, the son of Notre Dame and 49er great Joe Montana. Yes, when someone breaks the law it should be taken seriously, but not be blown out of proportion. Yes, this is not the first time Notre Dame has had to deal with this due to a recruit dieing from alcohol related reasons and Jimmy Clausen "broing it up" at the Beer Olympics (pictured below).
Do any of us really think those cops that made the arrest didn't drink as college underclassmen? Let's be real. The vast majority of college-aged "kids" drink and have some sort of social life. Not only that, but why make a big deal about what people do in their spare time? This party was not in the middle of summer camp, regular season, or even bowl game prep. So why scrutinize college kids for having a good time, especially when no one was hurt, no brawls broke out, and nothing Notre Dame football related was impeded due to this transgression. Sometimes athletes are held to a double standard saying they should not act like any other kid having the college experience. I would say that during the season or camp they should definitely not forget the reason why they are getting a scholarship and focus only on school (unless they are U$C athletes, in which case school is not part of the equation) and contributing their talents in the best way to the football team. But this is July, it was a house party, and they simply broke a law. Let the police deal with it, and move on. This happens all the time, and if no one gets hurt there is no reason to make a big deal out of it.

Who is Sponsoring World Cup Teams?

Though this is not directly related to college sports, it is somewhat related. There are always discussions about whether a school should stay with a particular company or switch to a rival one. This was discussed here in regards to Adidas schools. So who are Adidas teams? Nike teams? Puma teams? or anything else for that matter. It is time to examine who is the dominating apparel provider in the world of (not-American) football.
Adidas:
France, Spain, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Greece, Paraguay, Germany, Denmark, Slovakia, Japan, Nigeria

Nike:
United States, Slovenia, Brazil, Portugal, Holland, Serbia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand

Puma:
Algeria, Switzerland, Uruguay, Italy, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon


Others:
Honduras, North Korea, Chile, England

Clearly, it is a three horse race between Adidas, Nike, and Puma as I mentioned above. Puma has a huge stronghold on the African continent as the only country which is not representing the German company is Nigeria, which is rocking the gear of another German company (Adidas). As far as the two real giants go, the cake goes to Adidas in the world of football. As if having the rights to outfit referees and provide the official ball weren't enough, they are represented through 12 countries, compared to 9 of Nike.

It's (essentially) Official: Utah to Join the Pac

So it was announced earlier today that Utah will be the 12th member of the Pac-10 conference (or soon to be known as the Pac-12). Personally, this isn't that big of a deal because aside from a solid football team that has done well in the MWC and bowl games, and a basketball team that was solid in the late 90's, there is nothing much to it. They have some other nice programs and what not, but that aside, big deal. Plus Utah is just an absolute boring place. But hey, at least they hate BYU, and so do I. That being said, the big question here is how the conference will not divide itself to accommodate all the teams. You have to go with a North-South alignment because East-West would mean one eight team division and a four team division. The big question with a North-South division is who goes in the North and who goes in the South. Do the Bay Area schools go with the South to keep California together, or do Utah and Colorado and their bad weather and actual Northern location go in the North? Personally, I would like to see the California schools stay together and play in a division with the Arizona schools. Those are all much closer together and culturally make sense too. And again, they are closer geographically. The new ski schools should play with the other cold climate schools in Oregon and Washington because it will save on travel and make for a lot of cold games that no one wants to actually play in if you are for California or Arizona. I also saw somewhere an alignment that would split each natural rivalry which is probably insane idiotic and does not make any sense from a fiscal and logistic stand point. However, I am not Larry Scott or any of the ADs of the member schools, so we shall see what happens. In the meanwhile, we can all just wait and write and read more banter about this.

Pac-16? Not Happenin'

First, I am back! These past couple of months were filled with so much writing for school that I got so disillusioned that my blogging had to take a backseat. Either way, it is summer again and time to return to blogging about the happenings of college athletics. For weeks now, the raging topic of conversation has been conference expansion. We've all heard about it. School A will bolt conference X and will join conference Y thus leaving conference X is utter shambles. A, X, and Y have taken on many names recently and while some of these rumors have been true, many have been proven to just be a tease. What's hilarious is that many rumors that have been about East Coast schools, such as some ACC ones jumping to SEC, have taken a back seat to West Coast rumors. I'm shocked no one has mentioned how this is the first time ever that there's a reverse East Coast bias going on in the mainstream media. Since this blog is all about the West Coast we will examine the A, X, and Y pertaining to this side of the Mississippi.
The rumors that came to fruition last week when Colorado accepted the Pac-10 invitation to join its conference while Nebraska bolted on the old Big-12, for the new Big-12 (formerly known as Big-10 with 11 teams). This was believed to be a huge step towards turning both the Big-10 and Pac-10 into 16 team megaconferences. However, at least for the Pac-10 that will not happen. Today Texas turned down the Pac-10 invitation to join its conference, and Oklahoma and Texas A&M announced that they will stay put and try to keep the Big-12 together, as a 10 team conference. Personally, as a UCLA and Pac-10 enthusiast, I am happy about this. It for sure would have been cool to play those guys on a regular basis, but realistically, having a gigantic conference isn't that great. It creates tons of imbalance and weird scheduling problems and a lot more travel than the current format. Plus, having two eight team conferences seems pretty silly. With regards to recruiting, sure, it could have helped land a few top Texas prospects, but who's to say that the Plains schools won't come to California and nab a few prep stars as well? Also, some Pac-10 schools are already scheduled to play schools from the Lone Star state, so no big deal. In the end, the conference will probably stay with eleven or maybe nab one more (lets hope its a good catch) and hopefully put on a newly formed championship game.

Also, can the Big XII and Big 10 just like swap logos or something? Seems to be the simplest solution to me.

The Limits of Heckling

Earlier today as I was doing my daily browsing of sports website, I came across a pretty entertaining piece on Yahoo! Sports. The subject? JJ Redick. The story? North Carolina fans heckling him even though he's been in the NBA for four years now. This was music to my ears because as anyone who's read this blog can tell you, I hate Duke. Since Mr. Redick was the face of the Blue Devils for four years earlier this decade, I cannot help but spite him. However, I couldn't help myself but feel sorry for the guy. He was saying how in college, aside from all the cursing that has been thrown his way, people started calling out his family.

I'm sorry, but you cannot start yelling stuff about a player's family unless it is relavent. When is it relavent? When their sibling played the sport. For example, UCLA fans chanting "Josh is better" at Jarren Shipp or Cal fans yelling "Joe is better" at Josh Shipp. If a player's family has nothing to do with the sport, don't involve them. Furthermore, if people make reference to a family member's sexual orientation, race, marital status, or whatever it may be, is a clear no no. Along those lines, making sexual references at a 12 year old sister? Really? Come on guys. It's ok to poke fun at the friend with the hot friend, but if she's not old enough to drive, you shouldn't even joke about it. That is what disturbed me by watching Redick's video. I mean, having people tell you to "F off" is one thing, but talking about sex with your 12 year old sister? That's just really sick. At that point the fun and games end and ground control really is needed. Actually, control is needed probably once family member references/names are mentioned.

Adidas Schools

This is a post I have been meaning to write for about a week or two, and UCLA's recent renewal of its deal with Adidas was the final straw. Below is a list from the Big-6 conferences of those teams that are currently in partnership with Adidas as its main sporting supplier.

ACC:
NC State

Big 10:
Michigan
Indiana
Wisconsin
Northwestern

Big 12:
Kansas
Nebraska
Baylor
Texas A&M

Big East:
Louisville
Notre Dame
Cincinnati
Seton Hall

Pac-10:
UCLA

SEC:
Tennessee
Arkansas
Mississippi State

As you can tell, some conferences have very weak representation with Adidas (ACC & Pac-10) while others such as the Big 10, 12, and Big East have a fairly strong representation. It seems like Adidas does well in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the country, as well as a pretty good job in the South and Plains. Clearly though, it needs to ensure it uses its lone school in the West properly, because losing it somewhere down the line would be devastating to it. Lets hope the people at Adidas realize that.

Of Course I was Wrong...

As the West Virginia game against Duke was approaching the painful end for everyone who doesn't go to the school in Durham, I realized that my bracket will officially go up in flames. What's worse is that I knew that once the final buzzer sounds my mom will have a better bracket than I do, and that's plain embarrassing. Then the game ended, and my mother promptly called me to make fun of me. Being the good son and great sport that I am, I hung up on her right away. I couldn't help but bare the thought that not only did I lose to my mom, who's main source of college sports knowledge comes from Regis Philbin, but that Duke has a chance to win its 4th National Championship. It is well documented how no one likes Duke because of they feel like they are entitled to everything, even though they have a worse history than rival North Carolina. Could you imagine if they actually won the whole thing and were the defending champs? Preppy kids with popped collars of pastel colored polos will rejoice in what may be the most white-washed celebration in college basketball history since Kentucky's racist teams won in the 1950's.
Speaking of white-washed events, this Monday's final as my friend pointed out to me, would be the most vanilla final in recent history. Duke usually plays 3-4 white guys on the court at all times. Butler does its best to counter with playing around 2-3 white guys, depending on Matt Howard's foul situation. The only way it could get whiter is if Stanford or any Ivey League school was facing off against Duke. No matter how diverse (or not) the game in Indy will be, one thing is for sure. It'll be the world against Duke, and everyone knows that as its probably been reiterated on every sports media outlet. As much as I would love to see Coach K and his band of whitiest come out on the losing end, I think that they are too experienced and talented to crumble under the ferocious Bulldog defense. Then again, let's hope that I am wrong again, just one last time.

The Final Four, F $C!

Although U$C is not playing in this year's final four, and in fact they haven't played in one in over fifty years, the title is still fitting. Somewhere out there a Trojan semi-pro team is playing, so no reason not to wish them defeat. Trojan bashing aside, it is time to bash on the teams and players playing in this year's F4. To be perfectly honest, I really do not want to bash on too many teams nor their players because I do not have beef with them. Unless of course you play for the "other" prestigious school that dons four letters on its jerseys. I have made the point countless of times about how much I despise the Blue Devils. To be honest, it's not like I have anything against their players. In fact, I would have loved to see Singler and Scheyer don Adidas True Blue and wear a superior set of four letters (guess what does are?). My problem with the Dukies is their smugness and general belief that they are the best in life. I will outline a few points that should once and for all rid Dukies and Dick Vitale of their excessive pride.

1. The Yankees of college basketball. They only have three NC's and rank behind numerous other schools on the all time list. This makes them like the Phillies of college basketball. Except no one likes them.

2. Coach K is the greatest thing since bread came sliced. Again, no. He is a HoFer and all, but no way is he the greatest coach to coach student-athletes. His 11 Final Fours match the titles John Wooden won at UCLA. Also, Tom Izzo will probably catch up to him at some point. He has 6 in 12 years. Coach K has 11 in 30+ years.

3. Most hardcore fans. Well, they have awesome fans. But Cameron Indoor is smaller in capacity than the Galen Center so of course when you have a good team there'll be high demand. Add to that the small amount of resources (seats) and you basically only show the most hardcore of fans. I would say they are not as great as Kentucky, UNC, and Kansas fans who have arenas much larger that always sell out.

4. Everyone loves us that's why we are always on TV. Dukies, you are on TV because the ACC has an amazing TV contract. Since the ACC with the exception of UNC (and Maryland sometimes) is fairly average of course you are going to be on TV a lot. You know who else is on TV a lot? UNC and Maryland. Not to mention the entire Big East and Big-12. Actually, everyone is on ESPN all the time except the Pac-10. Still feeling special?

With those four reasons for Duke's Final Four appearance I will make a prediction on the outcomes of the national semis. Don't be surprised if I am completely wrong, but feel free to congratulate me when I am right (which probably won't happen):

Michigan State 65, Butler 59.
West Virginia 75, Duke 65.

Only if it Happened on April Fool's

UCLA and Pac-10 fans alike got treated a couple days ago when two basketball coaching vacancies were filled. One was hyped for a few days while the other was pretty much news when it happened. One was of a slimy lazy coach, while the other was of a crazy and off-court slimy coach. One involved a former UCLA coach and the other a Southern Cal coach. So what does this have to do with April Fool's? Well, had those two coaching vacancies been filled today rather than on Tuesday, no one would have believed either one.
Any sensible basketball fan knows how Steve Lavin is a lazy bum who lucked out by inheriting a talented team, used that to recruit more good players, but only made it to the Elite-8 once. He is the guy that Baron Davis referred to when saying his UCLA teams deserved a banner in Pauley for having made the tournament despite not having a coach. Tim Floyd on the other hand, has gotten good performance out of his teams at times when no one would have expected them to perform well, but this was partially because he had ineligible player(s) and allegedly paid lots of cash to a handler of O.J Payo to get him to come to South Central. So when UTEP hired him, people were kind of shocked. Who wouldn't? The guy's reputation is down the toilet and rightfully so. To be fair though, he was only out of coaching for this past season. Lav has been out of coaching since he got fired from UCLA in 2003. So when St. John's hired him, it was kind of surprising (along with what I already wrote about). The good thing for UCLA fans is that they signed a home-home series with the Johnnies beginning next year. Personally, I hope next year's game is in NYC because I will probably be there for graduate school and would love to rock my UCLA gear at a game.

The Legend of Tom Izzo

More often than not, I have been a total homer when it comes to discussing college basketball. On numerous ocassions I have discussed how much national championships are the most valuable thing you can measure a coach and/or a program by. However, in this post I will concede that such tough criteria is somewhat unfair. Why? Because some coaches just cannot be measured simply by looking at how many titles they have. Michigan State's coach Tom Izzo has "only" one national title since he took over the helm in East Lansing. With yesterday's thrilling win over Tennessee, he and his team have a chance to double up their amount of titles. Not impressed yet? Consider this fun fact: every upperclassman in Izzo's program has been to a final four. What is even more absurd is that he now has SIX appearances in the last twelve seasons. Not many coaches, let alone elite programs, can claim to have been to as many final fours as Coach Izzo has. Georgetown and Illinois? Five. Arizona and Syracuse? A mere four. All of those have been around for decades. Tom Izzo? For only a decade and a half.

The most impressive thing though about Tom Izzo's success is how he did it without dominating NBA prospects on a regular basis. The most talented team he has was the one who won the title in 2000, and a couple of those players are still in the NBA in Jason Richardson and Morris Peterson. The Spartans have been to multiple F4's since, yet barely have any players currently employed by NBA teams. I would find it hard to believe any top notch school can claim the same. Izzo clearly has done more with less than anyone else but has barely received any recognition about it. Sure, professional analysts who follow college basketball might give him praise but not as much as they would someone like Jim Boeheim (1 NC, 3 F4's) or Lute Olsen (1 NC, 4 F4's) and those coaches were coaches for over 30 years.

Brittney Griner is a Beast

For those of you who were not bored enough to watch the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament this morning, you missed out. It was a great block party. Seriously, it was. It was the first time all year I watched more than five minutes of a women's game that did not involve UCLA or Stanford and I was not too disappointed. Baylor trots 6'8" freshman sensation (and amateur boxer) Brittney Griner. Yes, she has the height of a guy who could play D-I men's basketball at center. This basically never happens. Usually women centers hover around 6'3" (give or take), so there is an inherent advantage for the Baylor freshman. Today against #1 seed Tennessee it was no exception. She did not have any mercy on the Lady Vols as she tallied 27 points and a cool 10 blocks. Oh by the way, that is no fluke for Ms. Griner. In the second round game against Georgetown, she had a smooth 14 blocks. Those numbers are plain ridiculous and should not be taken lightly. When was the last time we saw a center in the men's game that had such a height advantage with such dominance? Long ago. Ok ok, enough about the blocks! You know those 27 points I mentioned that she poured on Pat Summitt's crew? Eleven of them came from the stripe. In thirteen attempts. Coach Howland, can we get her to transfer and play for us? She has a better looking shot then any of our players, seriously.

Kentucky and Kansas Winningest Ever? Really?

Recently I heard about how Kentucky and Kansas are have the most wins out of any school in D-I history. Obviously, no one can argue with that fact. I even blogged about it. Nonetheless, hailing either one of those as the most prestigious would be ridiculous and shameful. Kentucky with all its winning, has only made 13 F4's while Kansas has the same amount. That ranks fourth behind UCLA, UNC, and Duke. And to put the final nail in the coffin, we all know that unless you win a championship, you are not the best. You can be one of the best, but not the very best. I mean, winning 35 games in a season doesn't bode as well when a team who wins say 33 beats you and takes the championship from you. In light of that factor, I have decided to do some very simple math. So simple even the Trojans might be able to follow (well, maybe). Kansas has 3 NC while Kentucky has 7. Add both of those up and you get 10. That'd be one less than what UCLA has. Sure, UCLA might have a couple hundred less wins than either of the previously mentioned schools, but at the end of the day, it has found a way to come up on top. To put it simply:

It's Been a While But...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been quite a while since we last spoke. In fact, it's been since the conference tournament weekend. That was two weeks ago. What have I done since you might ask? Took some finals, flew to the nation's capital, and a couple other historic United States cities. Some might say I have traveled more than such schools as Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Villanova from the Big East or maybe Kansas from the Big 12, or even those "good" schools out of the A10. Either way, lots has happened in these two weeks. Brackets have been destroyed, weird white guys have been winning games they shouldn't (Northern Iowa and Cornell) and even the Pac-10 has had a winning record thus far in the tournament at 3-1.

I was there in person for Georgetown's fall from grace against Ohio (who?). Well, I was visiting Georgetown when it happened, so not really in person, but kind of. Better yet, I got to watch Kansas lose live and screw my bracket even though I was travelling around DC. I saw part of Nova's game as they lost to the Bay Area's new pride, St. Mary's. And lets not even start talking about Cornell and Northern Iowa because that's been done by every professional on ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, SI, and some random foreign media. But you know, enough about the past. It is time to look forward towards a tasty Sweet-16. Here is what I want to see happen this weekend and why (by region):

MIDWEST:
1. UNI beats MSU. Why? So I can laugh even more at that super ugly white guy who looks like a leprechaun on growth hormones and anabolic steroids.
2. OSU loses to TN. Why? Everyone loves Bruce Pearl... unless of course they hate Jews. Nothing like having a member of the tribe having a chance to advance to the F4.
3. 1+2=69. Why? If you combine the previously mentioned outcomes, the Elite-8 match-up will be a "69" and no college male will object to that, right?
4. Evan Turner has a great game for OSU. Why? I want him to solidify his National Player of the Year over John Wall, simple as that.
5. TN beats out UNI and moves on to the F4. Why? see reason #2.

West:
1. Butler beats 'Cuse. Why? My adventurous weekend with some homegurlz in DC led me to not like 'Cuse. I think they will win, but lets give one out to the Hoyas. You know, because they blew it (like the rest of their conference).
2. KSU destroys Xavier. Why? So KSU fans can rub it in to the Jayhawk faithful how much closer they are getting to winning a championship. Two more and they catch "tradition heavy" Kansas.
3. KSU beats Butler. Why? see #2. Having Butler in the F4 would be comical cause they could barely beat UCLA, but I'll go against it.

East:
1. Cornell over UK. Why? So Calipari doesn't have a chance to vacate another F4 appearance. So UK has no shot at being two away from double digits. Lastly, so the team that claims to be the greatest ever (umm 11 > 7, sorry) loses to an Ivey League school.
2. Washington over WVU. Why? All my friends in the Big East give the Pac-10 shit. However, for the sake of comedy and West Coast bragging, lets have UDub get this one.
3. A double digit seed advances to the F4. Why? Everyone loves an underdog. Especially when their team is already out of it.
4. Kentucky gets sanctions. Why? It'd be hilarious. Third time is not the charm for Calipari.

South:
1. Duke loses. Why? No one likes the smug Dukies. Losing to a team from rural Indiana without their biggest star will be even funnier.
2. SMC over Baylor. Why? I'm from the Bay Area and so is Saint Mary's. Plus, it'll be funny to have another Big 12 team to a much lower seeded foe.
3. SMC advances to F4. Why? This will potentially set-up a match-up with Bruce Pearl and his band of Vols. What better than a title game between a Catholic school and a Jewish head coach?
4. Coach K loses, a sponsorship. Why? Everyone is sick of him. Except Dick Vitale. But everyone is sick of Dickey V. Therefore, no one really likes Coack K.
5. Chris Kramer dunks over Nolan Smith and/or Lance Thomas. Why? Duke plays like four whities at all times (sometimes three, god forbid), so why not have a white boy from Purdue hurdle Duke's remaining rotation players. A dunk over Andre Dawkins would suffice too.

Crazy Start To Conference Tourneys

With most conference tournaments from the Big-6 under way, it is time to look back at the day that was. That day was Thursday (clever, I know). All across the country lower seeds took out higher ranked teams. To be honest, due to finals and all that, I only got to concentrate on two tournaments. However, those two provided plenty of upsets. To get the most out of today, I decided to follow the best conference, Big East, and its polar opposite, the Pac-10. Both provided plenty of drama and excitement. Sure the Big East featured five ranked teams, while there were non on the Left Coast, but oh well. The day began with Georgetown showing it only knows how to play against good teams, as it beat archrival and squeeze of the month Syracuse. The Hoyas did not slip as they did against the Orange earlier this year as Chris Wright was dominating and Greg "Craig" Monroe showed why lefties are so awesome. The day continued with Marquette taking on Villanova. The announcers kept talking about how it was going to be a good game and all that jazz, but I wasn't buying it. And I was proved wrong. 'Nova decided to also shoot itself in the foot and lose to a lesser (though talented) opponent. Then came the Bruins turn to pull of an "upset".

Even many die-hard UCLA fans didn't expect their Bruins to pull out the win against the Wildcats of Arizona and to fall to them for the third time this season. For what ever reason (that reason was probably Reeves Nelson), the Bruins dominated throughout most of the game, and sent Arizona and it's "25 year streak" of NCAA tourney appearances back to the desert. Though then Cal dominated the Ducks, the third game of the tournament was a thriller. Well, not really. Stanford jumped out to a lead early one, gave most of it up, but then stepped on the gas in the second half and embarrassed those Shocker-waving-Sun-Devils all the way to Tempe. But back to the lEast Coast. Notre Dame and Shrek, err Luke Harangody sent much higher ranked Pitt packing a bit early for Jamie Dixon's taste. This marked the third straight upset in the Big East Quarters. Luckily for WVU, they had a miraculous bank shot to win against the Bearcats of Cincinnati. The same thing almost happened back in Los Angeles, where Beaver Fever was in full swing against UW, but the Fever fell asleep halfway through the middle part of the second half and Washington prevailed. This sure sets up a fun march for all fans out there. I wonder if Syracuse, ASU (if they make it in), Nova, and Pitt play well or play like this guy sings:

There's a Real Ran Jeremy

Hopefully none of you thought that I was Ran Jeremy. The name is a combination of my name and my good friend Jeremy who helped inspire the creation of this blog. Anyhow, a few weeks ago, my friend and colleague Ryan James Walters I and I did some googling about our blog and found a real person that is Ran Jeremy! The link was to the guy's facebook, and because of it, we had to friend him. Today, he finally friended back! Don't believe me? Here it is:

Pac-10 Tourney Preview

Since it has been a while since I last blogged up, I would like to first apologize for the absence. Secondly, let's get to the topic at hand. The regular season is over and now a bunch of pretty bad teams will try to steal an automatic bid to the Dance. What will happen? By the way the that league play has gone, I'll probably be completely wrong, but might as well take a stab at it. I will examine each matchup and offer my prediction and quick reasoning for the predicted outcome. This will be done for all ten games.

"Play-in Game":

Oregon v. Wazzu - this will be difficult to call because UO has lame-duck coach Ernie Kent, so it will be interesting to see how he gets his team ready for this game. The Cougs can definitely put up some points if Thompson and their young guys decided to do so, but they have been inconsistent so that is a toss-up. In the end, I think that Tajuan Porter will take care of business and send Oregon to their next game.

1st round:

Cal v. Oregon - This could obviously be Cal against the Cougs, but either way Cal pulls this out. Their three main guys are all seniors who want to prove winning the regular season title was no fluke. They are also coached by one of my favorite coaches growing up in Mike Montgomery, so I have to go with them.

Arizona v. UCLA - Oh man, let's see. Arizona swept the Bruins, though the Bruins dominated the last game, only to lose it in the closing minutes. This game is played in Los Angeles, but it probably does not mean much since the Wildcats destroyed the Bruins at Pauley on Jan 2nd. Though my heart says Bruins, I have to choose the Wildcats.

Washington v. Oregon State - Beaver fever will probably not be enough to stop senior Quincy Pondexter and tiny soph Thomas. Washington has too much fire power to lose this game.

Arizona St. v. Stanford - The Cardinal cannot win away from Maples and Arizona State is simply better than them. So the loose-shocker waving Devils will advance.

semi-finals:

Cal v. Arizona - Arizona has been way too up and down this year to win this game. You also have to figure the Berkeley faithful will try to make this game a home game since they usually don't have too much of a reason to be excited about Cal basketball. Also, Nic Wise will get destroyed by Jarome Randle, and I personally will love to see that happen.

Washington v. Arizona State - Both feel like they have a legitimate case to make it as an at-large but know they are by any means locks. Both teams have also been hot of late but the last time I checked, the game will be played in Los Angeles not Seattle. Washington has issues on the road, so ASU should be able to pull this off.

championship game:

Cal v. Arizona State - Cal pretty much is a lock to make the tourney. Arizona State has a great chance, but is not assured of anything. We do know one thing, Cal sports tend to choke. This could very well happen, and none of us should be too surprised to see ASU win the tournament to earn the automatic bid.

Thoughts on Attendance

So Ted Miller just blogged up the Pac10's numbers for the 2009 season. Since URSA is ultra slow for my last first-pass ever to sign up for classes, I figured I should present and then comment on these numbers. Before I get to the analysis part, here are the numbers:

USC... 84,799

UCLA... 64,547

Washington... 64,356

California... 59,472

Oregon... 58,544

Arizona State... 48,556

Oregon State... 42,328

Stanford... 41,436

Arizona... 35,656

Washington State... 25,909

The top and bottom is nothing surprising at all. Washington State really sucks, and have a small stadium. Those two combined imply it'll be last. On the other end of the spectrum, it should also not surprise anyone U$C leads the Pac. They came off a Rose Bowl win (again), a new hotshot QB, which means the bandwagon was in full force. Two of their losses came at home, but during the last quarter of the season so they wouldn't really impact attendance as much. In the middle of the pecking order, you can find UDub and Oregon. The reason why I am singling them out is because their numbers are essentially they seating capacity of their respective stadiums and that should be pointed out. Those two fanbases deserve lots of credit, especially the Huskies, who haven't really had a reason to be excited about football until Sark came in. Then again, I am sure that none of them expected to win too much this year, so it's darn respectable of an attendance figure.

Now, it is time to get to my Bruins. Yes, we are second in attendance. Yes, it is not too surprising. No, I am not happy with just being second (especially with those figures). With all the progress the team has made in the offseason, and with the hype around Coach Neu, the numbers should have been WAY higher. As someone who was there for every single game, I can attest to the emptiness that (did not) fill the Rose Bowl. The biggest area of concern and disappointment for me was in the students. I would always check out the size of the student section as we did our pregame routine (Fanfare, Strike, Nat'l Anthem, Sons, Mighty) and although I never thought it'd be full 20 minutes before kick-off, it was never even close to having the lower half of it full. That's just sad. I know I am not the only one as there has been lots of discussion about the apathetic nature of some of the student body amongst UCLA blogs, so no reason to repeat does sentiments. What we should take from it is that apparently our fans appreciate a decent team more than a team with more talent but has a tendency to choke, right?

Rating this Valentine's Day

Folks, today officially sucks. Not because I do not have a Valentine or anything remotely related to that, but because UCLA got swept by U$C. In basketball. That's right, three straight losses dating back to last season's Pac-10 tournament, which unfortunately I was courtside for. Good thing we don't play them again until next year right? But in all seriousness, this really sucks. I was honestly not expecting it be a great game for us, but it still stings. It always sucks to lose to the Trojans, and doing so in my favorite sport, one that UCLA dominates traditionally, hurts even more. In my four years at UCLA we have gone 6-4 against them including two semi-final meetings in the conference tourney. Considering that UCLA was a final four team twice during that span, and finished ahead of them the first three years in the standings (right now they are a game ahead of the Bruins) make it seem pretty sad. But enough ranting about this, and back to February 14th. Below is how I would rate my Valentine's days in my four years as a UCLA student:

1. Senior Year - 2010. It is pretty clear that the loss tonight truly stings and will leave me angry and annoyed at how bad this year is. I think that it is also a prelude to how the next two games in Washington are going to be, so this really does suck. It feels much worse than...

2. Freshman Year - 2007. Playing IM Indoor Soccer, I tore my calf on a corner kick and although I scored the tieing goal to eliminate the opposing team from the playoffs, I couldn't walk properly for the next four weeks and screwed up a couple good grades in the process and yet this is only number two.

3. Sophomore Year - 2008. Three midterms during sixth week, including one on Vday and one on the following day. Sure I dominated the one on Vday, but then having to study circuits and get my game on with Kerkhoff's Laws was not something I wanted to do on that day.

4. Junior Year - 2009. Honestly, it was a pretty fun day. Lodged in the middle of the long weekend, I had just turned 21 and got to enjoy myself after a week midterms. Sure, this is not nearly as bad as the top three, but it sure needs a mention.

Now, how can I make myself feel better? By checking out this video:

NBA All-Star Weekend, College Style: the Game

Happy Valentine's day readers! I hope that yours will be more interesting than mine, considering I am planning on planting myself in front of the TV and watch the NBA All-Star game and UCLA v. U$C basketball game tonight. As I did on Friday before the Rookie Challenge, I shall provide yet another list of colleges/countries/high-schools that the game's biggest stars hail from. Without more rambling, here it is:

College:

Dwayne Wade - Marquette

Allen Iverson - Georgetown

Derrick Rose - Memphis

Rajon Rondo - Kentucky

Paul Pierce - Kansas

Chris Bosh - Ga Tech

Gerald Wallace - Alabama

Joe Johnson - Akransas

Al Horford - Florida

David Lee - Florida

Steve Nash - Santa Clara

Carmelo Anthony - Syracuse

Tim Duncan - Wake Forest

Deron Williams - Illinois

Chauncey Billups - Colorado

Kevin Durant - Texas

Zach Randolph - MSU

Chris Kaman - Central Michigan

Jason Kidd - Cal

High School:

Dwight Howard

Kevin Garnett

Lebron James

Kobe Bryant

Amare Stoudemire

International:

Dirk Nowitzki - Germany

Pau Gasol - Spain

It is pretty obvious that the majority of the players in this year's All-Star game attended college for at least one year. However, half of the chosen starters are guys who came straight from high-school. And remember, the high school class of 2006 was the first one that was banned from jumping to the pros, but they would be in their 4th year (actual 3rd year) in the league, so it's not like those numbers would be too skewed. Perhaps Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose would have been the only ones to make that jump who made the All-Star roster since 2006.

It should also be interesting to note that four players are from non-BCS conferences, which includes Wade because at the time, Marquette was not part of the Big East. It seems like the SEC actually has the most representatives with five.

And before you go, I will leave you with this video to set the mood for Valentine's Day:

NBA All-Star Weekend, College Style

Have you ever felt like you need to find someone to root for in the pros? Someone who represents your school or country? Well, here at RJS we feel that pain and we have thus compiled a list of the participants in the Rookie Challenge which airs tonight on TNT. More lists will come in the next couple of days for the Saturday night competitions and actual All-Star Game.

Rookies:
Omri Casspi (Kings) Israel
DeJuan Blair (Spurs) Pittsburgh
Stephen Curry (Warriors)Davidson
Tyreke Evans (Kings) Memphis
Jonny Flynn (T-wolves) Syracuse
Taj Gibson (Bulls) USC
James Harden (Thunder) Arizona State
Brandon Jennings (Bucks)Lottomatica Virtus Roma (Italy)
Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) Sweden

Sophomores:
Michael Beasley (Heat) Kansas State
Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) Spain
Danilo Gallinari (Knicks)Italy
Eric Gordon (Clippers) Indiana
Brook Lopez (Nets) Stanford
Kevin Love (T-wolves) UCLA
O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies) USC
Anthony Morrow (Warriors)Georgia Tech
Russell Westbrook (Thunder)UCLA

As you can tell, the most represented schools are UCLA and U$C with two players each. It should be noted though that Memphis would have had two but Derrick "SATs" Rose is playing in the actual ASG. The Pac-10 has 6 representatives from four different schools, leading all collegiate conferences. Internationally, there are four countries, all of which are European (Israel plays in Europe in basketball), probably a first.

UNC = UCLA East?

Has anyone been following the huge collapse of UNC? If not, you should. It's kind of fun to see. It is amazing how similar of a downfall it is to UCLA's. There is a youth movement in both places, as UNC also plays tons of freshmen and sophomores, although they still have much more experience than UCLA. Unlike the Bruins, Carolina has tanked it up in the ACC having lost six of eight conference games. However, it should be noted that the ACC >> Pac-10 this year, so that fact might be slightly skewed. Additionally, Carolina has actually beaten all the teams they should beat out of conference, except College of Charleston. That fact sits much more comfortably when you consider UCLA lost at home to Fullerton and on a neutral court to the likes of Portland and Long Beach State on a neutral court. So the two situations are somewhat different, but in the big scheme of things its a very analogous story. Two powerhouses in the world of college basketball that wear light shades of blue and recent final four programs, that will probably not make the Dance. Still, I would love to be in Carolina's position much more than UCLA's. You know, being the defending National Champs.

Signing Day Disparity

Today has been a crazy day for those following National Signing Day. Many fan bases have been feeling good about themselves, while many have not. No matter who you root for though, you must have noticed the differences that the three main recruiting rankings have between them. I have always found it quite odd that most of the time none of the three agree. Here are the top-15 rankings from each service (Rivals, Scout, ESPNU):

Clearly, these three have tons of differences. While each has UCLA and U$C as the top schools out of the Pac-10, the third one differs for all three. Rivals has Cal, Scout has Washington, and ESPNU has Stanford. At least Scout and Rivals both agree that Oregon is #13. Another striking difference is that U$C is ranked as high as #2 on Rivals, but as low as 7/8 on Scout/ESPNU. Speaking of U$C and Lane Kiffin, check out Tennessee's ranking on Scout. Much lower than both of the other services. Staying in the South, it is interesting that FSU is ranked #10 for both Rivals and Scout but as high as #6 on ESPNU. There are also a few teams on ESPNU's rankings that don't appear on either of the other two. As previously mentioned Stanford is absent from the other two, in addition to Ohio State, Miami, and Georgia. That's just above 25%. On Scout, Ole Miss makes an appearance as does Washington, and Rich-Rod's Michigan amounting to 20%. Rivals for whatever reason has California, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame, also comprising 20% of the rankings. As you can see, these three services have tons of disparities between one another. But hey, at least they all have Florida at #1.

NCAA Tournament Expansion? No thanks.

The world really does revolve around money doesn't it? As if the current contract that CBS and the NCAA have for the glorious event that is March Madness, they have to come up with new ways to generate more revenue. Sadly, the NCAA is seriously considering adding a bunch more mediocre teams and expanding the filed to 96. This seems completely dumb. If you expand it, why are you giving a bunch of teams, 32, a bye? The first round is going to suck, a lot. If you expand, do it the right way, and expand it to 128, a power of two (shout out to my fellow engineers). But regardless, I am not for it. Especially if the main purpose is for a more lucrative television deal. I mean what is wrong with the current format? Enough teams get a chance to play and those have all given us plenty of upsets and heartbreaks, so why try to create more? Chances are those teams that are added will not be able to do much. Also it eliminates the excitement smaller schools have when finally making it to the tournament. Lastly, the current format provides three glorious weekends that are logically organized and give tons of schools exposure and a chance at the spotlight. And oh by the way, this is coming from a UCLA student who is watching his team slip away from even the slightest chance at making the Big Dance this year.

Midseason Report

So I have been completely off on most of my predictions about how this Pac-10 season was going to turn out, but I feel like so have a lot of people. Who would have known that Washington can't win (even once!) away from the friendly confines of Bank of America Arena? Who knew Arizona would be able to put something legitimate together and be in a tie a top the conference? And who knew that Oregon would win its first two, then drop a five, then sweep the LA schools? Not me and not anyone. This has been a roller coaster season, and even that is an understatement. For those who like to see actual numbers, here is the way the conference looks right now (courtesy of ESPN):

Yes, only three games separate first and last place. There are also five teams with a 4-5 record right now. With the exception of Oregon State, all the teams are tied at least with one other team. There balance and parity is out of control this year. But don't be fooled, it's not in a good way. I've watched plenty of the league games both in person and on the tube, and never saw a team put a three game stretch that would turn the heads of the NCAA Selection Committee. In this post I made some daring guesses about how the conference would transpire. Right now, I think that I would like to flip my top team and most disappointing team. I mean, Arizona is overachieving and Washington is completely inconsistent and undeserving of any praise at this point in the season. In five weeks, this could change again though. As far as my picks for FOY and POY I think that I am right on point because Reeves Nelson and Quincy Poindexter have worked wonders for UCLA and Washington respectively. So yay, I am 50% right at this point! This is like getting back a UCLA Engineering midterm because if you are above the 40% average, you can feel good about yourself.

Georgetown Exposes Duke

So as I woke up this morning tired and trying to figure out what exactly happened last night, I checked my phone and saw a text from my dear friend Shelley Murveit at Georgetown saying she was pissed off at me for texting her in the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast. Obviously, she was probably not angry that, but because she had to wake up super early (7am) to day drink and watch her Hoyas take on those Dukies. Either way, it reminded me that instead of being angry at the world (I also have a midterm in two days) I should watch the top-10 contest between the two schools. As I turned the TV on about half way through the first half, I smiled. Duke was getting owned. Luckily for me, this didn't change until the last minute of the game, but by then, no one cared. Georgetown exposed Duke once again as an over-hyped, crappy, and ultra-vanilla basketball team. Greg "Craig" Monroe destroyed anyone Duke had to offer, including foul machine Lance Thomas (seriously, every game I watch he's in foul trouble, like Alfred Aboya circa 2008). Wright, Georgetown's point guard was terrific in distributing and showing how one of the best Jewish players (Jon Scheyer) in college basketball is probably not as good as Dick Vitale would like you to think he is. Actually he did score 17 points, but on 5-13 shooting, or as UCLA fans call it, a Drago line or kind of like this guy:

While the basketball was obviously the biggest attraction of the game, Barack "Lefty" Obama was courtside with his VP Joe Biden taking the game in. He did not really show any favoritism either way, which I think is smart. As he was being interviewed by the CBS guys, he laughed at his bodyguard Reggie Love, a former Duke player. He also mentioned a few key things, and broke down fellow Lefty Monroe's pretty spin move in the lane (including a right handed finish!). This sideshow however did not distract yours truly from enjoying a Duke team get destroyed. Ironically, Coach K used the "Stanford line-up" (3 white guys) as opposed to the "Duke line-up" (4 white guys) and it still did not help. Probably because Nolan Smith was feeling the home jitters as he was playing in his hometown, but I don't buy it. Of course, those could be the same jitters Duke players felt in 2007-2009 as they failed to move past the sweet-sixteen. But hey, at least we found out from this game that Georgetown is for real (unlike Duke), and could make a serious run at the final four. I guess that VP Biden agrees...

We're a football school? Right???

From Rick Reilly's newest article (you can read here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4861102&sportCat=ncf ):

"It's been bad news for USC football fans, who just lost the Doberman Pete Carroll to the NFL and had him replaced with the puppy Lane Kiffin, an unproven, scatter-mouthed, rule-breaking 34-year-old whose combined head coaching record is 12-21. Kiffin's leaving the Vols was especially bad news for Kiff in's 1-year-old, Monte Knox Kiffin, whose middle name is an homage to Knoxville. Honey, do you have the Wite-Out? Maybe we can pencil in "Troy" on the birth certificate?

But it's been good news if you're a UCLA football fan. Suddenly, Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel looks like the altar boy in town, the seasoned genius. Hell, Neuheisel's already beaten Kiffin head-to-head, trumping the Vols 19-15 last season. Plus, Kiffin tried to steal Neuheisel's brainiac offensive coordinator, Norm Chow, and whiffed. It's all sunshine in Neuheisel's sports section lately. Trading Carroll for Kiffin as your crosstown rival is like trading a hangman for a hangnail."

UCLA has already passed USC in the recruiting rankings with the addition of DTs Sealil Epenesa and Cassius Marsh.

Rey Maualuga Is a Role Model

That is, if your idea of a role model is a thug who hangs out with minors and drinks and drives. It is not to surprising if you are a UCLA fan, or for that matter, a fan of any other Pac-10 team who's mascot is not named after a lost civilization. This guy has been a punk for years, and if you do not believe me check this video out:

You many have also seen him taunting fans and opposing players numerous times on the the field and sidelines, but that's not that uncommon these days for athletes so I'll give it a "pass" for now. But what happened today is truly dumb and a new low for Rey. He went out and drank. Sure why not, we all do that. He then drove. Some people do that, not smart. He hung out with a minor. Some people do that too, they are called pedophiles and probably end up in jail. Essentially Rey managed to complete the trifecta. According to reports, he blew a .157 after he got pulled over, and was hanging out with an 18 year-old and 17 year-old girl. Rey, how old are you? That's right, 23. The five year gap is a lot in my opinion, but under the law is legal. The 17 year-old? Illegal. Now, I am not going to ellude to any inappropriate behavior but the simple fact that he is hanging out with two girls who should not have even been around a bar is troubling. What's worse is that he then perceeded to drive them and hit two cars in the process as well as a parking meter. Maybe the parking meter was intentional because he needed some spare cash after getting a pay-cut when leaving U$C to go to the Bengals. Again, just a thought. But hey, at least Rey got arrested in style, check out his "mug shot":

Pac-10 Representation in the NBA

In case none of you beloved readers knows how many Pac-10 players there are in the league, or what team they play for, I am here to help. Earlier this evening, I was pointed to a web site that has a list of all college alumni currently playing in the NBA. With that, I have decided to put together that information in a nice little list for your convenience:

Note: Special thanks to CBS Sports for this, it's amazing!!!

Arizona:

Gilbert Arenas	Washington Wizards	PG
Jerryd Bayless (4)	Portland Trail Blazers	PG
Mike Bibby (10)	Atlanta Hawks	PG
Chase Budinger (10)	Houston Rockets	SF
Channing Frye (8)	Phoenix Suns	C
Jordan Hill (43)	New York Knicks	PF
Andre Iguodala (9)	Philadelphia 76ers	SG
Richard Jefferson (24)	San Antonio Spurs	SF
Damon Stoudamire (3)	San Antonio Spurs	PG
Jason Terry (31)	Dallas Mavericks	SG
Luke Walton (4)	Los Angeles Lakers	SF

ASU:

Ike Diogu (1)	New Orleans Hornets	PF
James Harden (13)	Oklahoma City Thunder	SG
Eddie House (50)	Boston Celtics	SG
Jeff Pendergraph (31)	Portland Trail Blazers	PF

Cal:

Ryan Anderson (33)	Orlando Magic	PF
Francisco Elson (9)	Milwaukee Bucks	C
Jason Kidd (2)	Dallas Mavericks	PG
Sean Marks (4)	New Orleans Hornets	PF
Leon Powe (44)	Cleveland Cavaliers	PF

Oregon:

Aaron Brooks	Houston Rockets	PG
Malik Hairston (1)	San Antonio Spurs	SG
Fred Jones (2)	Los Angeles Clippers	SG
Maarty Leunen (10)	Houston Rockets	SF
Luke Ridnour (13)	Milwaukee Bucks	PG

OSU:

Stanford:

Jarron Collins (20)	Phoenix Suns	C
Jason Collins (34)	Atlanta Hawks	C
Casey Jacobsen (23)	Memphis Grizzlies	SG
Brevin Knight (2)	Utah Jazz	PG
Brook Lopez (11)	New Jersey Nets	C
Robin Lopez (15)	Phoenix Suns	C

UCLA:

Arron Afflalo (6)	Denver Nuggets	SG
Trevor Ariza (1)	Houston Rockets	SG
Matt Barnes (22)	Orlando Magic	SF
Darren Collison (2)	New Orleans Hornets	PG
Baron Davis (1)	Los Angeles Clippers	PG
Jordan Farmar (1)	Los Angeles Lakers	PG
Dan Gadzuric (50)	Milwaukee Bucks	C
Jrue Holiday (11)	Philadelphia 76ers	PG
Ryan Hollins (1)	Minnesota Timberwolves	C
Jason Kapono (72)	Philadelphia 76ers	SG
Kevin Love (42)	Minnesota Timberwolves	PF
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (12)	Milwaukee Bucks	SF
Earl Watson (2)	Indiana Pacers	PG
Russell Westbrook	Oklahoma City Thunder	PG

U$C:

DeMar DeRozan (10)	Toronto Raptors	SG
Taj Gibson (22)	Chicago Bulls	PF
O.J. Mayo (32)	Memphis Grizzlies	SG
Brian Scalabrine (44)	Boston Celtics	C
Nick Young (1)	Washington Wizards	SG

Washington:

Jon Brockman (40)	Sacramento Kings	PF
Spencer Hawes (31)	Sacramento Kings	C
Nate Robinson (2)	New York Knicks	PG
Brandon Roy (7)	Portland Trail Blazers	SG

WSU:

Kyle Weaver (5)

Oklahoma City Thunder

SG

Here they are in order of most to least players:

UCLA - 14

Arizona -11

Stanford - 6

Cal/Oregon/U$C - 5 (each)

ASU/Washington - 4 (each)

WSU - 1

OSU - 0