Steelers Come Back to Beat Broncos

It started off ugly, but the Pittsburgh Steelers picked up a big win at home against the Denver Broncos, 34-27.  It was a battle between the second ranked Steelers offense and the top ranked Broncos defense. The Steelers now advance to 9-5, while the Broncos drop to 10-4.  Pittsburgh advances into the sixth spot in the AFC Playoff picture, while the Broncos drop down to the three seed in the AFC.  If the season ended after this week, they would have a rematch, that will not realistically be a matchup we would see in the Wild Card.
It started off ugly, as the Steelers secondary was awful, looking like Swiss cheese out there.  Brock Osweiler ripped them to shreds in the first half, throwing for over two hundred yards with three touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown.  The Steelers offense's only first half touchdown came off of a Ronnie Hillman fumble that occurred in the Steeler red zone.  They also tacked on two field goals, making it a 27-13 game at the half.  But, after the half, it all changed.
The Broncos had four punts in their first four possessions, and the Steelers controlled the ball for most of the second half.  The Broncos defense tired, not a recipe for success against Big Ben and the high-flying Steelers offense.  Antonio Brown had sixteen receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns, the first two allowed by Chris Harris, Jr. in two years!  Roethlisberger was 40-55 with 380 yards, three touchdowns, and two picks.  The one with 2:01 up seven, that gave the Broncos new life on their side of the field, where they promptly failed to get a single first down, again.  Happened against the Bengals, and he needs to be smarter. But, 27 unanswered points game them the 34-27 victory, and the second week in a row the Broncos got shut out in the second half.
Brown needs to be in MVP talk.  It has become an all quarterback award, which is ridiculous.  Over 1,500 yards, 116 receptions and nine touchdowns, he's a game changer.  That's playing four games with Mike Vick and/or Landry Jones as well.  He's the best receiver in the NFL, and it's not close, whether Odell Beckham Jr. super fans or whatever.  I mean, at the very least, Brown's team will at least be most likely in the Playoffs.  I'll right more about his case later.  Ben, if not hurt for those games, could possibly be in the conversation right now. 

Northern Iowa Upsets Number Five Iowa State

It was the second time this year the Northern Iowa Panthers got a shot at a top five team, and again, they took them down.  Last time, it was the North Carolina Tar Heels.  This time, it was an in-state rival,  the Iowa State Cyclones, by a score of 81-79 at the Big Four Classic in Des Moines.
Northern Iowa led throughout the whole game, led by some hot shooting from seniors Wes Washpun and Paul Jesperson,  Washpun had a double-double with 28 points and 11 assists, both career highs for the Cedar Rapids Washington grad.  Jesperson hit seven three-pointers on his way to 21 points.
It was 80-79 with twenty seconds to go and Iowa State just forced a turnover, and Georges Niang spun, and fell and threw the ball away.  Washpun hit one of two free throws to make it a two point game, and Monte Morris missed a shot, giving the Panthers the win.
Northern Iowa upsetting Iowa State should not be a surprise to anybody.  We saw the Panthers beat Kansas, one of the biggest upsets in Tournament history.  We saw it against North Carolina.  Ben Jacobsen is one of, if the not the most, underrated coaches in the nation.  He's for sure the best coach in the state of Iowa.  Many bigger teams have wanted him, but he has decided to stay in Cedar Falls, and he continues to win basketball games.
This was Iowa State's first loss, although it should've been their second, as Iowa and Fran McCaffery bailed them out.  It was a tough week, losing Naz Mitrou-Long for the season with a hip problem after an off-season injury.  They got Deonte Burton, a transfer from Marquette, eligible though.  That is huge, considering the Cyclones go only seven deep, which is a huge problem. It gets tougher for them, going to Cincinnati to play on Tuesday.
Northern Iowa is 2-0 against top 5 teams. The rest of the nation is 3-46.  That is a .061 winning percentage.  UNI has a 1.000 winning percentage against top 5 competition.  Not bad.    

Forty Bowl Games is Too Many

Later today, the FBS Bowl season kicks off.  Yet again, there will be more bowl games than there were played last year, with the AutoNation Cure Bowl being added in.  This year, there are forty different bowl games.  Forty! Eighty FBS teams, when there are only about 120 or 130 FBS teams!  That is ridiculous.  The usual cut-off for a berth into a bowl game was six wins.  Now, since there are so many bowl games, they had to go to 5-7 teams.  This year, San Jose State, Minnesota, and Nebraska are the 5-7 teams.  These teams were chosen based off of APR, and these three times were lucky enough to continue their seasons.
There are really 42 bowl games, but the Air Force Reserve Bowl between Alcorn State and North Carolina A&T is a FCS bowl between the historically all-black schools from the SWAC and MEAC respectively.  This is the first playing of this bowl game.
Including that game there are six bowl games kicking off.  The Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl at 11, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl kicking off at one between Arizona and New Mexico.   The Royal Purple Las Vegas bowl between Utah and BYU at 2:30.  The Raycom Camellia Bowl between Ohio and Appalachian State at 4:30.   The AutoNation Cure Bowl pitting San Jose State and Georgia State at six, at finally, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl between Arkansas State and Louisiana Tech at eight.  All times are central standard time.
Let's take about the AutoNation Cure Bowl.  5-7 Mountain West team against a 6-6 Sun Belt team.  A bowl that doesn't really need to be played.  GSU won two games in a three year stretch before this year, but somehow started 2-6 and came from 17 down in their last game to finish 6-6.  SJSU is a 5-7 MWC team.  Enough said.  It's for a good cause, raising some money for Breast Cancer, but they could have a bigger game than this, maybe rename a bigger bowl.
Home games for New Mexico and Louisiana?  Don't like it.  New Mexico is actually playing in their home stadium.  How do they experience the fun of traveling for bowl games if it's in your home stadium? The experience is a really big part of it.
The best game is the Holy War between BYU and Utah.  A ranked team in Utah and a borderline top 25 team in BYU that is losing their head coach Bronco Medenhall. Although I complain, I always seem to enjoy the smaller bowls better, because we never know what to expect, teams I've never seen play before.  Let's hope it's still a good bowl season, even with too many games.
My bowl pick-em has been hard this year, because of all of these teams I have no idea about.  I won my group last year, but I don't really know some this year.  My picks today are NCA&T, Arizona, Utah, Appalachian State, GSU, and LT.   

Cubs Agree to Deal with Jason Heyward

The Chicago Cubs made another big signing on Friday, taking away yet another St. Louis Cardinal player from their NLDS team.  The last was way 37 year old pitcher John Lackey, and this time, it was a coveted young infielder by the name of Jason Heyward with a 8 year, 180 million dollar deal.
Heyward was born in 1989 in New Jersey, which makes him only 26 years old.  So, this is rare for a player to be a free agent right in his prime.  So, this was another reason he was such a hot commodity around baseball.  He is more known for his glove, speed and on-base percentage.  All of this made him a great fit for the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs have a lot of great young power, like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, and Javier Baez.  A big problem for them was striking out way too much, with the Cubs leading the league in strikeouts.  But, interesting enough, the Cubs also took a ton of walks, and the addition of Heyward will only help that total.  This combo actually helped the Cubs sometimes, because it got dominate starting pitchers out of the game earlier than usual.  A good example is at Wrigley, Matt Harvey got out after eight innings and the Cubs got the runs they needed in the bottom of the ninth to win the third game of a four series sweep in May.  Heyward also adds speed to thhe Cubs lineup, something that the Cubs did not have much of last year, really only Dexter Fowler and Addison Russell provided much.
Heyward is now projected to lead-off with fellow newcomer Ben Zobrist behind him.  Then Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year.  Then power hitters Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler if he is not traded for power.  Rounding it out is catcher Miguel Montero, the pitcher hitting in the eighth hole, and shortstop Russell.  This may now be behind the Toronto Blue Jays as the best lineup in all of baseball.
The contract also has two years where he can opt out, the first being after year three.  If the Cubs win the World Series by then and he walks, oh well.  I think Heyward has always been overrated.  He was a good pickup, but I don't think 180 million is a good price tag for a career .270 with only 97 home runs.  But, it's better than what some people are getting paid, such as David Price getting over 200 million from the Red Sox. It is also interesting to note that both the Washington Nationals and the Cardinals offered him 200 million, showing he wants to win with the Cubs.  Zobrist took less money as well to play for Joe Maddon and the Cubs.  This is why the Cubs got all those free agents such as Alfonso Soriano  the last time they were good, to win it all and break the curse with the Cubs.  Heyward and Zobrist doing this makes a good statement for the Cubs, that they are here to win this year, not next year, this year.
  

Steelers vs Bengals

A lot of big games in the NFL this weekend, and one of the biggest if not the biggest is the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5) at the Cincinnati Bengals (10-2).  This will be the second battle between the two AFC North rivals, with the Bengals winning the last one at Pittsburgh in week eight, 16-10.
Now, the Bengals have the Steelers at home with a win clinching them the AFC North crown.  It doesn't really matter, because they will win it unless they lose out and the Steelers win out.  So unless the Bengals absolutely fall apart.  But, this is a big game for seeding.
The Bengals are in a three-way tie at the top with the Patriots and Broncos.  The Bengals would be the one seed if they were to win out and the Patriots lose one game.  But, they also have to play at the Broncos and the Patriots are really good.  The Bengals hold the tiebreaker over the Patriots until week 16 via strength of  victory.  But, the Patriots beating the Dolphins, and the Bengals beating the Ravens flip the strength of victory.
The Steelers will play for the sixth seed.  The Chiefs have an easy schedule and hold the head to head tiebreaker.  The Steelers won Super Bowl 40 against the Seahawks as a six seed.  This is an explosive offense that can outscore anyone on any given day.  They are not even healthy, not even close.  Bell, Pouncey, Beachum and Big Ben Roethlisberger missing a bunch of time. The secondary is a mess, with Antwon Blake, the second-worst cornerback in all of football.  They are the most dangerous team to defeat the Patriots in the AFC because of that offense.
The Bengals defense will be led by Geno Atkins, and is one of the best in the league.  The Bengals offense is great too.  A.J green and Tyler Eifert, who are both on my 9-4 playoff fantasy football league, are killing it. Eifert will be listed as probable after missing last week scores a lot, and Andy Dalton isn't good in big games like this like 0-4 in the playoffs, so not good.
I project the Steelers high flying offense to win in a shootout, 27-24.  I think that would put the two AFC North rivals on a crash course into the 3-6 game, the wildcard where Dalton and the Bengals have gone 0-4 in four years with Dalton at the quarterback helm, and Marvin Lewis at the head coaching helm. 

Cubs Sign Zobrist, Trade Castro

Tuesday night was a big night for the Chicago Cubs at day two of the Winter Meetings, as they made two big moves.  The first, was signing utility man Ben Zobrist from the Royals.  Zobrist was one of the biggest names in hitters coming into the free agent season, and was connected to the Cubs as early as the Trade Deadline last season.  This is because Zobrist was a favorite of manager Joe Maddon back when they were on the Tampa Bay Rays.
This is a great signing for the Cubs, as they finally get their lead off hitter they so coveted.  You can plug him almost anywhere on the field, and he will be a plus-defender.  But, right now the Cubs will most likely use him at second base the most, now that their is an opening.  Zobrist signed with a four year, $56 million deal.  The Giants and one other team offered the same amount of years for $60 million, but he wanted to play for Maddon to win a ring in his second stint with Maddon as a manager, and to win it in Chicago with the Cubs.
The other big deal was Starlin Castro being flipped to the New York Yankees.  In return, the Cubs got Adam Warren, and a PTBNL, most likely Brendan Ryan.  Warren can start or pitch in the bullpen, giving the Cubs much needed starter depth, while he could pitch out of the pen if needed.   He had a mid-3 ERA last year for the Yanks, making 43 apperances, with about twenty of them being starting assignments.  Brendan Ryan is a second baseman that is a career .230 hitter and hit witha small sample size, .210 in the pinstripes,
I would've liked to get more.  There were rumors that Brett Gardner and Castro could be traded straight up, but that didn't happen.  That would have locked up the center field position for the Cubs.  I guess you could think of it like this; The Cubs traded Castro for Zobrist, Warren, and Ryan.  Not that bad of a deal.  I am disappointed that the Cubs had to get rid of Castro.  He was the first prospect up, in 2010.  I'll Never forget his debut.  He hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat, and had six RBI's at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.  That is where Schwarber had his best game, and where Jorge Soler hit a bomb during his first ever plate appearance in the MLB.
Castro had his ups and downs, but he was a backbone to this massive rebuilding project that worked so well.  But, this trade was inevitable. Rumors started last year, and with Addison Russell taking his spot, and Javier Baez coming up, there's no room.  That was made clear in August when Russell took Castro's shortstop position.  Zobrist is a better fit at second base right now for the Cubs, and the Cubs had a need for another pitcher.  The Cubs are done at the Winter Meetings most likely, but are still in the running for a center fielder and a trade for a young, controlled pitcher to have for the long-term, during this window of competing for World Series.

Zack Grienke Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks

The most shocking free agent signing in a while was Zack Grienke to the Arizona Diamondbacks, for over thirty million a year.  This is a huge shift in the NL West, as Grienke goes from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Diamondbacks.  In my mind this makes the Diamondbacks contenders for the NL West and the Wild Card.  With an MVP contending first baseman and most underrated player in baseball, Paul Goldschmidt, and new uniforms, they should be a feared small market contender.
This also puts a HUGE hole in the Dodgers rotation.  They have Clayton Kershaw, maybe Alex Wood, and that's like it.  The Dodgers have overpaid for many players, but couldn't for their ace?  Seems weird to me, and the Dodgers will probably regress.  They have a lot of money and no salary cap to deal wit, so it'll be very interesting to see what they do, with a lot of the top arms off of the free agent market, maybe a trade. Such as the one that sent NL Batting Champion Dee Gordon to the Miami Marlins. But, I doubt the Dodgers would be afraid to pull the trigger.

Cubs sign John Lackey

The Chicago Cubs made their first big splash in the free agent market, signing John Lackey from division rival St. Louis Cardinals.  The deal is reportedly a short two-year deal that is worth o32 million dollars.  It was expected that the Cubs were going to make a splash in the pitching market with a deep free agent field, although coming in to the offseason, the Cubs were thought to get a top starter. But, the price that the aces brought, was just too high for the Cubs, and in my mind, absolutely ridiculous.  The Cubs were thought to be the frontrunners for lefthander David Price, but he went to the Red Sox on a seven year, 217 million dollar contract.  I was a big fan of the Cubs considering signing him, but for around 31 million a year, it was not going to be worth it.  Another problem with David Price, is that he was been just absolutely awful.  He has no playoff wins, and has an awful ERA.  For the Cubs, the deal just plain would not make any sense whatsoever.  It was more of a desperation move by the Red Sox, a bad team who is desperate for success, after making terrible free agent signings the year before. the Cubs used patience to build a contender for probably at least 5 to 7 years.
So, the Cubs went with the veteran, who at 37, might be on his final contract.  Lackey has got himself  a reputation of not being that nice of a guy. He is always fired up on the mound, and when he doesn't get a call he thought he should of, he will stare down the umpire to make his thoughts known.  Also, he divorced his now ex-wife, Krista, who was fighting breast cancer in 2011.
But, he will bring a veteran presence to this very young team that could always use some more.  Also, this is big in an NL Central vantage point.  These two teams will probably be the best two teams in the division, with the Pirates lurking.  The Lackey signing puts a hole in the Cardinals rotation, who has already lost Lance Lynn with a torn rotator cuff for the entire 2016 season, while fixing a huge hole in the Cubs rotation. I'm excited about this signing, and this team is still trying to trade for a young, cheap starter with a long-term deal, with using their young prospect hitters.

Iowa-Stanford in 2016 Rose Bowl

On Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes lost a heartbreaker in the Big Ten Championship against the East champion Michigan State Spartans.  The Spartans went on a 22 play ten minute drive that covered over 80 yards, that ended with a touchdown run from freshman L.J Scott, lunging the ball over the goal line just before his knees hit the ground.  That left the Hawkeyes about 20 seconds to advance into big-legged senior kicker Marshall Koehn's range.  But, C.J Beathard got sacked on a three man rush, and laterals on the last play failed.  It was a 16-13 Spartan victory, in typical Big Ten fashion.

Now that the Hawkeyes dreams of an undefeated season and for their first National Championship since they claimed one in 1922, with the likes of Aubrey Devine and Duke Slater on the squad, Iowa was going to be New Year's Six bowl.  The thought was that the loser of the Conference Championship game would fall below Ohio State, and Ohio State would get picked over them for the berth to the Rose Bowl, while Iowa or Michigan State would play in the Peach or the Fiesta Bowl.

But, Iowa only moved down one spot to number five, which meant that they could  be selected to play number six Stanford, who won the Pac12 with two losses.  Again, Iowa is being heavily picked against in this game, a common theme here of late.  But, I think that this a great matchup.  It is a traditional Pac-12 against the Big Ten matchup, and it has two similar styles of offense, as they are both pro style.

Both offenses have a great running game, but the most noticeable player for either side is the Cardinal's running back and Heisman contender, Christian McCaffrey  McCaffrey will be the  most  explosive player by far that this Iowa defense will have played.  McCaffrey is an absolute beast  He wasn't known around the nation, but he has burst on to the scene as a top three player the college football world.  Alone, on Saturday's game against the Southern California Trojans, he totaled 461  total yards.  He even broke Stanford's Barry Sanders record for all-purpose yards in a season in the second quarter, very easily passing the 3,250 yards Sanders gained.

But, he will be going against Iowa's sixth ranked run defense.  If anybody can shut down him, it must just be the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Not only do they have a great run defense, they have a kicker, Koehn, who can kick it out of the end zone, taking out the kick return component of McCaffrey's game. They have a solid secondary as well, led by FBS interception leader Desmond King.

The Committee did the right thing, putting the Hawkeyes in ahead of the Buckeyes.  The Buckeyes never looked good all year, and Iowa not only won their division, they did it without taking a loss.  Also, Michigan State, with their backup quarterbacks, went into Columbus and won the game.  Iowa played the Spartans really well.  Say what you want about the Hawkeyes and their schedule or whatever, but they proved to people, such as Paul Finebaum, who was very anti-Hawkeye the whole ride through the season.  This is the first Rose Bowl trip for the Hawkeyes since 1991, even in 2002 when they were co-champions with Heisman runner-up Brad Banks, when the Orange Bowl picked the Hawkeyes when the Rose Bowl was ready to take the Hawks.  In 1991, the Hawkeyes lost to Washington 46-34.

 Unlike the Hawkeyes, this is a common end of season destination for the Stanford Cardinal.  This will be the third time in the last four years that they will play in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual.  Even the granddaddy has a sponsor will a really long name, which is great, I guess.  They beat Wisconsin 20-14, but lost in 2014 to Michigan State 24-20.
With how the Hawkeye fans took over Indy, there is no reason to believe that will be any different.  I would think about 60 thousand Hawk fans would be there.  Stanford fans might just have burn-out from coming to Pasadena three out of the last four times, even though it is in California.  While Iowa came from the TaxSlayer Bowl last year in Florida, and weren't expected to do much.  So expect a lot of Iowa fans that will come and drink Pasadena dry.

Northern Iowa Beats Number One North Carolina

The Northern Iowa Panthers basketball program pulled off one of the biggest wins in school history.  They took down the number one North Carolina Tar Heels at home by a score of 71-67.  Of course, this isn't the first time they've shocked the world.  In 2010, the Panthers pulled off perhaps one of the biggest upsets in the Tournament's history.  Everyone picked the number one overall seed Kansas Jayhawks to win it all.  They never game eight seed UNLV or nine seed UNI a chance.  But UNI was under seeded by at least four seed lines, and Ali Farokhmanesh hit an unbelievable three pointer with about thirty seconds left in the game, and UNI won 69-67 to advance to the Sweet 16 where they later lost to Tom Izzo and number five seed Michigan State.
In the Kansas, game the Panthers got up by double-digits early, and held off a late surge by the Jayhawks at the end, this went the complete opposite way.  The Tar Heels got up early, as they held a 41-32 lead at halftime.  So, the Panthers had stayed in it, and you'd think that since the Tar Heels were the number one team in the land, that they'd pull away.  And, it sure did look like the Tar Heels were going to pull away easily.  They got up by sixteen points, and it sure looked like this ballgame was over. But, something clicked for the Panthers and the switched was flipped.  They had an outburst.  They had a 29-8 scoring run where they totally dominated the Tar Heels.  They took their first lead of the game at 63-58, and it was within five points the rest of the game.
With about twenty seconds in the game, the Tar Heels took it out at half court with about twenty seconds left after a Panther foul down three.  They got an offensive rebound after a missed three pointer, but the Heels cross-court pass was picked off by Jeremy Morgan, which pretty much ended the game, and the Panthers made one free throw after being  fouled, and that was it, the Panthers did it.
The Panthers got 21points from Wes Washpun, 19 from Matt Bohannon, whose three pointer gave them the lead for good, 14 points from Paul Jesperson, and got their lead from a Wyatt Lohaus bucket, a big one for the sophomore.
 It was played for former Linn-Mar Lion player Marcus Paige, his homecoming game, a North Carolina tradition in a star's senior season, who could not play because of a broken hand suffered in practice.  His loss showed, as the Tar Heels got flat out dominated in the second half, and forced zero turnovers against the Northern Iowa Panthers in the second half.
 

Northern Iowa Football Makes FCS Playoffs

It was a great weekend for Northern Iowa Panther athletics.  On Saturday, the Panther basketball team upset the number one team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels.  The Tar Heels came for Marcus Paige as his homecoming game, a great tradition for North Carolina Basketball started by Dean Smith and continued on by head coach Roy Williams.  Paige is a senior from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, but broke his hand and could not play.
But, I'm digressing a little.  The Panther football team beat the now 3-8 Southern Illinois Salukis by a score of 49-28.  With that win, the Panthers were a 7-4 football team. A 7-4 record is usually a pretty 50-50 proposition to advance into the field of 24 with 14 at-large bids.  But, playing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, or just the MVFC, the toughest conference by far on the FCS level, almost guarantees that a 7-4 team will get in.  The schedule the Panthers played also helped them a ton, and gave them their second straight at-large bid.  Their losses included @ Iowa State, @ #3 seed North Dakota State, @ #2 seed Illinois State , and Western Illinois.  All three FCS teams made it into the Playoffs, and Iowa State is an FBS schools.  They had wins against Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, and the big one was an ugly 10-7 victory at South Dakota State.  So they didn't have any eye-popping wins, only one against a playoff team (SDSU), but they also beat who they needed to.
So now they will face the Eastern Illinois Panthers, and they earned home field advantage.  The EIU Panthers were one of the last four teams in, as they were 7-4 from the Ohio Valley Conference, or the OVC.  The EIU Panthers have been a familiar team in the FCS Playoffs scene, but are best known for being the team that Dallas Cowboys quarterback and undrafted free agent Tony Romo.  Last week, they forced seven turnovers and beat the Eastern Kentucky Colonials at home 21-7 in a virtual play-in game.  The OVC only produced two playoff teams this year, but the other one is the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, who went 10-1 and pushed the SEC's Auburn Tigers to overtime, where they suffered their only loss of the season.  So, basically their record is 10-0.  The Gamecocks were number one almost the whole season, replacing the Bison from North Dakota State after they lost to Montana.  The OVC only had four winning records, and an 0-11 Austin Peay Governors team.  The MVFC had five, and Missouri State was an awful one win team.
The biggest controversy was the 6-5 Western Illinois Leathernecks getting in over a 7-4 North Dakota or a 9-2 Bethune- Cookman team from the non-automatic MEAC conference.  But, WIU had a lost at FBS Illinois, so they were really 6-4.  With the tough schedule and wins such as at Northern Iowa, the Leathernecks deserved a bid in my opinion.
Another story line was The Citadel.  They beat the SEC East's South Carolina Gamecocks last week, and I think that put them in for sure.

Hawkeyes, Tigers Stay Unbeaten as Buckeyes, Cowboys fall

Another week of college football meant another week of crazy gamed.  At this point in the season, there are only two undefeated teams in the FBS.  The 11-0 Iowa Hawkeyes and the 11-0 Clemson Tigers.  Both teams had easy wins over bad teams at home to Purdue and Wake Forest respectively.
The two other undefeated teams, Ohio State and Houston fell to 10-1.  Houston was never in the playoff consideration, as playing in the AAC is a big disadvantage.  They got beat 20 to 17 on the road at Uconn.
Ohio State lost to number nine Michigan State at home on a last second field goal by Michael Geiger 17-14.  Ohio State faced a lot of controversial issues after the game, mainly from their play calling.  They only got Heisman contender Ezekiel Elliott twelve carries the whole game.  I was cheering against the Buckeyes, and I thought it was just awful playcalling.  Elliot didn't hold back on his post-game comments.  He said there's no way that he is coming back, and that the coaching staff didn't put them in a position to win.  Ever since they lost offensive coordinator Tom Herman for the head coaching job at the now 10-1 Houston Cougars.  Nothing clicked all year, and their repeating as champions is almost over.
Iowa has established themselves as the top team right now as the top team in the Big Ten.  They are also third in the Amway Coaches' Poll at number three, and got a first place vote for the first time, in well, a long time.  Iowa should be in the top four come Tuesday and maybe even number three, hopping Notre Dame.  The Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten West, and have to beat Nebraska and probably Michigan State in the Championship to get into the Playoffs.  If they go 12-1, they will most likely go to the Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl against the Pac-12 champions.  The Iowa Hawkeyes are in a good spot.

Peyton Manning Benched

It finally happened.  The Denver Broncos finally benched Peyton Manning.  Yes, benching an all-time great such as Peyton Manning, was a good decision for the Broncos to be put in a better position to win games. 
Manning has gotten up there in age.  He is thirty-nine, and his age has really showed here in the last couple of years.  Last year, he was sailing passes over receivers heads in December and in the AFC Divisional Game against his former team, the Colts.  The offense this year has really struggled, and, in fact, most of the points that they had scored came off of defensive and/or special teams scores.  The main problem was Manning. He now has a noodle arm.  Last year, his old arm got tired, and the main reason for his troubles.  He is no longer an elite quarterback in the League, and I'm not even sure he can be a viable starter in the NFL.  In a day where he became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards after needing three coming in (now ahead of Brett Favre), he might have had his all-time worst performance
Today, against a divisional rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, Manning threw four picks, before he got benched in favor of Brock Osweiler, the quarterback from Arizona State.  For the record not that it matters at all, but on my bench in fantasy football, he scored -7 points. Of course, Roethlisberger came in and got at least 30 points.  But, Manning does not look good out there.  He looks like a man that shouldn't be in the NFL anymore.
I'm not entirely sure that this is a fore sure benching, but it is still a huge deal.  Osweiler might take over as the full-time starter, or maybe they thought that the game was a fluke.  Or, Manning was hurt, and head coach Gary Kubiak was just trying to take him out to prevent Manning from getting hurt even more.
Me, personally, I would take him out for good.  I think that Brock Osweiler would give the Broncos the best shot to win.  He's young, and he's been in Denver for a decent amount of time, so their should be a great level of confidence in him with the offense, and getting his chemistry down with his receivers.  As a Steelers fan, I wouldn't mind facing a Manning lead team in the Playoffs.
The next question is, does Manning retire after the season?  This was a question going around last year, which turned out to be an easy decision for him to come back.  But, I think he finally hangs up the cleats after this year, and goes easily into the Hall of Fame.  He's won five MVP's, and broke numerous records, so there's no question he's a first ballot selection. He has had all types of problems winning in the Playoffs, and only going `1-2 in Super Bowls.  That will hurt him in the conversation for the best quarterback of all-time.  Either way, it's been a great honoer to watch him play, and the NFL will certainly miss his presence.

Hawkeye Basketball Tips Off

Another year of Iowa Hawkeye basketball started on Friday.  This season starting hasn't been talked about much, because of Iowa's football team starting 10-0 and being ranked as the number five team in the nation.
But, the Iowa basketball team is off to a fast start, at 2-0.  Of course, they haven't played anybody. But, that's all right, because it is only the first weekend, and it's a good time to get it sorted out with a young team like the Hawkeyes. On Friday, the Hawkeyes tipped off against a good one-bid league team, the Big South's Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs.  The Hawkeyes won that game 76-59.  Today's game was not that close.  The Hawkeyes played the Coppin State Eagles from the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference, another one-bid league.  The Hawkeyes started on a 22-2 run, and they never looked back.  Iowa was ahead 52-22 at halftime, and they won 103 to 68.  It was a fast paced game that took less than an hour and forty-five minutes to complete.
But, it gets tougher on Thursday, as the Hawkeyes will head up to Milwaukee to face off against the Marquette Golden Eagles.  The Eagles are coming off of a very tough season after their coach, Buzz Williams left to coach at Virginia Tech. They are in full rebuild mode, but have a great recruiting class that they got for the 2015 class that will present a tough challenge for the Hawkeyes. But, with young talent comes growing pains, as the Golden Eagles suffered a home loss to the Belmont Bruins from the Ohio Valley Conference 83-80.  This is the first year of the Gavitt Tip Off Games, games that will be played in the non-conference portion of the schedule between a Big Ten and a Big East team.  It is named to remember and honor former Providence athletic director and the first ever commissioner of the Big East Conference, Dale Gavitt.
Then, with their first two games of the season being the pregames, the Hawkeyes will fly down to Orlando to play in the Advocare Invitational against Dayton.  They will then play against either Notre Dame or Monmouth.  They could also meet up against Wichita State, a top 25 ranked team.
They also will play at top 10 in-state rival Iowa State.
At least Iowa got through without getting upset in a crazy opening weekend, such as Wisconsin getting beat by Western Illinois, Illinois by North Florida, and former Iowa coach's Steve Alford UCLA getting beat by Monmouth.  The road to March is just starting.
   

Iowa Moves Up to Number Five

The second batch of the College Football Playoff rankings came out this Tuesday, and the rankings  did not disappoint Hawkeye fans.
The top four this week was Clemson at number one, Alabama at number two, Ohio State in the three spot, and Notre Dame at number four rounding out the final four.  So no surprises there at all in the slightest.  But the real surprise was the Iowa Hawkeyes at number five.
The Hawkeyes jumped all the way from the ninth spot to their first top five ranking since the 2009 Orange Bowl, season, the last and only other time that the Hawkeyes were 9-0.  The move up shows just how much respect that the Committee has for the Hawkeyes.  As the Chair, Arkansas AD Jeff Long said, the Hawkeyes don't have an explosive offense, such as Big 12 teams Baylor and Oklahoma State, they are just plain consistent.  They don't commit very many penalties or turn the ball over.  It's not sexy, but week in and week out, they have taken care of business and won football games to remain undefeated.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten is Baylor, Stanford, Oklahoma State, LSU, and Utah.  Five through eight was where the Committee spent most of their time deliberating according to Long, and is a crap shoot.  The thing that sets the Hawkeyes apart is their two top 25 wins, both on the road at 18 Northwestern and at 25 Wisconsin.  The Hawkeyes, along with Notre Dame, are the only two teams that can claim two top 25 wins, but the Hawkeyes wins both came on the road.
Iowa is put ahead of Baylor because Baylor hasn't played anybody.  Baylor hasn't played a team with a winning record the whole year, while Iowa has played five.  Oklahoma State moved up from 14 to 8, but should not be in the top 4, because they beat number eight at home.  So they shouldn't move up eleven spots, even though it was in blowout fashion.  Iowa is ahead of  Stanford, in part because they beat Northwestern by thirty on the road, while Stanford lost and looked terrible at Ryan Field.  No, it being played at 9:00 Am Western Time isn't an excuse.
Things change from week to week, but, by the rankings, it seems if Ohio State and Iowa were to meet in the Big Ten Championship, it would be a de facto play-in-game for a Semifinal spot.  Even though a lot of people hate the Hawkeyes because they think they're not good, such as Colin Cowherd and Paul Finebaum.  The Committee like the Hawkeyes, and that's the opinion that matters.

Undefeateds Fall in College Football

It was a wild week in the world of college football.  After the first rankings were released by the Committee last Tuesday, we saw were they thought the top teams were positioned at.  Well, the rankings will see a shakeup after this week.

The first upset of a top ten team was Oklahoma State over TCU.  Oklahoma State didn’t just win, they absolutely demolished the eighth ranked Horned Frogs.  So now, TCU’s playoff chances are almost over, depending how far they drop after receiving a good beat down from number 14 Oklahoma State.  A big question now is, how far does Okie State rise after this?  Do they hop teams such as the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Stanford Cardinal?  I say that for sure they hop into the Top Ten, but I have no idea how far up they will go.

The Navy Midshipmen beat the 13^th ranked and undefeated Memphis Tigers.  I don’t think that Memphis had a shot to make it into the Playoffs, but they for sure had the best shot to get into a New Year selection committee bowl.  But, instead the Midshipmen will probably end up ranked in the Top 25 and having a shot at a really good bowl game.

Lastly, the #2 ranked LSU Tigers lost on the road to one-loss SEC West rival Alabama by a score of 30-14.  LSU just got plain outplayed by the Crimson Tide, who will most likely get a trip to Atlanta with a game against Florida, which, if the Tide win, will clinch them a playoff berth.  LSU, meanwhile is in a tough spot.  They will drop, and I don’t think they will have a shot to get in unless Alabama somehow loses in the regular season.  Leonard Fournette and company look to be headed for a Committee Bowl Game.

Injury Bug Strikes Again for Steelers

It happened again.  Again, the Pittsburgh Steelers have an injured skill player.  This time, for the second time this season, Steelers fans watched quarterback Ben Roethlisberger lay on the ground in pain after a sack by Aldon Smith.  At first, it was thought to be that knee he hurt week 3 against the St. Louis Rams.  But, it was foot on the other leg. 

When it was showed on the replay, his foot did not look good.  He could not put any weight on the injured foot.  The worst was feared.  Could it be his Achilles? If he tore it just like Steve Smith Sr. did the week before, he season would for sure be over.  If Roethlisberger’s season was over, the Steeler season would be over.  There is no way they could win a Wild Card berth with Landry Jones under center with Le’Veon Bell already being out for the season.

He was sent to local hospital right away for an MRI, so it sounded bad.  But, a few hours later, ESPN’s Adam Schefter got word that it was only a sprained foot, and that he should only miss a few weeks.  So again, for the second time this season, Big Ben and the Steelers caught a humongous break.  The MCL sprain looked for sure like it would be an ACL tear, and this one looked like it might be a season ender.

 I can’t remember a team having such bad luck with injuries as this Steeler team has this year.  Of course, I’m pretty young at 16, but still.  They lost All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey in the preseason and it looks like his season is probably done.  Then, Roethlisberger gets hurt in Week 3 against the Rams and missed four games.   Then, they lose tackle Kelvin Beachum to an ACL tear in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals.  Then, as soon as Ben gets back, they lose All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell to a brutal MCL tear.  Then, of course, Roethlisberger hurts his foot his second game back against the Oakland Raiders.  They have also lost defenders for some games, such as linebacker Ryan Shazier.   Second round pick, cornerback Senquez Golston, didn’t see a snap before getting ruled out for the season.  Safety Will Allen came back finally after getting hurt Week 5 on Monday Night Football at the San Diego Chargers.

It is just sort of unfair.  Coming into this season, the Steelers were expected to have the best offense in the league.  With the best running back in the league, the best receiver, a rising star at receiver, and an elite quarterback, how could you think otherwise?  But that combo of Bell, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Roethlisberger only were all on the field together for 16 total snaps the whole season due to suspension and injuries. 

But yet, with all of that talent being hurt or suspended, the Steelers are still 5-4 and currently hold onto the second Wild Card spot in the AFC.   They just beat the now 4-4 Raiders, so they own a .5 game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker.  With how weak the AFC and the NFL in general is, 9-7 could easily get you into the Playoffs.  The Steelers have the toughest schedule in the NFL, and the toughest part comes after the Week 11 bye

Coming up, the Steelers have the Cleveland Browns coming to town for a one o’clock battle in Pittsburgh to cap off the three game home stand for the Steelers.   Although Landry Jones will be under center for the Steelers, this is one that the Steelers should still win this football game against Johnny Manziel and the tough defense of the Browns.  Then, the Steelers have a timely bye to see if they can get Roethlisberger healthy for a showdown at the Seattle Seahawks and their intimidating home.

Iowa Basketball loses to Augustana

It wasn't a good Friday night for the Iowa Basketball team.  It was their second scrimmage before the season opener next Friday.  They won last week, as expected, against Division Two Sioux Falls.  But, this second scrimmage did not end the same way.
It was going to be a tough game for sure, as their competition was Augustana (SD) Nobody knew much about them coming in.  But, they are the number one team in Division Two Basketball.  So, it should've been close, which it was. 
Iowa was playing catch-up the whole game.  They were down 36-41 at halftime.  So they were in a good spot to come back and win as expected.  But, it got worse from there. With 14 minutes left in the game, the Hawkeyes were down 46 to 61.
But, it got better from that point on.  Iowa got on a 16-5 run, and with 5:24 left got to within four at 62-66.  Then, with Iowa down three with eleven seconds left, Junior guard Peter Jok hit a three pointer that tied the score at 74.
So, the Vikings had the last shot in the game.  Then, Dan Jensen hit a great fade away jumper over Senior center Adam Woodbury for the Vikings win, 76-74
This isn't good, but it's not time to panic.  The record is still 0-0, and it was just a glorified practice.  Fran was trying to get everybody reps, and they wouldn't go as deep on the bench as they did Friday.
Also, remember this.  Michigan State lost last year to a 1-8 Texas Southern team in OT.  They, of course, made it to the Final Four.  
Iowa starts play for real on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs at 8:30 CST on ESPN3.

Steve Smith Sr. Tears Achilles, Is His Career Over?

Sunday was a brutal week for injuries in the NFL. But the two biggest were two star players from the AFC North whose seasons were ended. The first one was Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell, who severely tore his MCL(More on that later this week).  The other being a torn Achilles for Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith Sr.
Coming into this season, Smith Sr. said this would be his final year.  Now, the question is, does Smith Sr. come back for one last year since this one got ended halfway through the season?
I bet that Smith Sr. will seriously consider it.  I, for one, think that he will play next season.  I don't think that the fierce competitor inside Smith Sr. will make this decision easier.
I also think that either way, he should be in the Hall of Fame in Canyon, Ohio.  He joined the top ten in receiving yards in the game before he got hurt, and was a star for all those years as a Carolina Panther, and showed he was not too old after the Panthers released him as a Baltimore Ravens.  He will go down as a great player to watch compete and as a top receiver of his generation.

First Playoff Committee Rankings Come Out Tuesday

Finally, we are at that point in the college football season where we have the first Committee Poll come out on Tuesday.  The question is, how much different will the Poll be from the AP and Coaches' Polls.  The two polls are quite similar. There is only one team in the AP's Top 10 that is different than the Coaches' Top 10, which is Iowa, who is ranked number 10 in the AP and 11th in the Coaches'. There are minor differences like Clemson being ranked third in the Ap and fifth in the Coaches'.
I don't think that there should be many differences, but an interesting team to watch is the Iowa Hawkeyes.  For some reason,  the talking heads at ESPN and SEC fans and whoever else has no idea what they're talking about when it comes to Iowa.  They keep bringing up their schedule as a bad thing, but it's actually the opposite.  In fact, they have the third toughest schedule within all the unbeatens in the FBS.  I think for now, their schedule thus far will help them in the rankings, but in the long run with their remaining schedule, it could hurt them.  SOS is a big point for the Committee, so that will be interesting to see how that folds out.
For me, this is my top four.  At number one, the Ohio State Buckeyes.  At number two, the Baylor Bears.  At number three, the Clemson Tigers.  And, at number four, the Louisiana State Tigers.  My next two teams would be the Texas Christian Horned Frogs and the Michigan State Spartans.
Now, I have no idea what the Committee will do, but that's what I think it will be in my opinion.  So my top ten would be OSU, Baylor, Clemson, LSU, TCU, MSU, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Stanford Cardinal and then the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at number 10.
But, I think the Committee will put Iowa at number ten, Stanford at nine, and Notre Dame at eight, and keeping Alabama at seven.
The real poll will be released on Tuesday, and after that, every other poll means absolutely nothing.  It will come out Tuesday on ESPN at 7:00 EST

Ranking the Hawkeyes Remaining Schedule

This Saturday, the Hawkeyes start the second half of their season.  At 7-0 at number 10 in the AP Poll, they are well in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West.  Having beaten Wisconsin, who has only one conference loss, at home to Iowa.  So Iowa has a two game lead with five to go because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

5.Purdue Boilermakers (Nov 21, TBD)

Purdue is 1-6 and is 0-3 in the Big Ten.  Purdue has just been plain awful under third year head coach Darrell Hazell.  Hazell has five wins as head coach, with three of them being against FCS foes, and one Big Ten conference game, in 2014 at Illinois. 

Purdue has had three different quarterback start at least 3 games.  They have a bad punting game, below average defense, and an average offense.  

But, if Iowa goes 10-0 into this game with a chance to clinch the Big Ten West, this could be a trap game with a road trip to Nebraska up next.  Purdue will most likely come in 1-9, and play with nothing to lose, inculding the possibility that Hazell will lose his job after this season.  But, I think Iowa will come out big winners in this game.

4. Maryland Terrapins(Oct 31, 2:30 CT)

This is Iowa's first game after the bye.  Maryland comes in at 2-5 and 0-3 in the Big Ten East.  Maryland has struggled mightily this year as expected, and former head coach Randy Edsall got fired after the Terps fell to 2-3 after getting beat by the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Terps have had struggles stopping teams from putting points on the board all season, allowing 34.1 points against, which is ranked 107, just behind Purdue.  They will go against Iowa's 44th ranked offense and 20th ranked rushing offense.

Maryland's offense isn't very good either.  Led by Perry Ellis, they have the 104th ranked pass offense against Iowa's 59th ranked rush defense.

As in the Purdue game, I think that the Hawkeyes will win easily at home.

3.Minnesota Golden Gophers(Nov 14, 7:00 CT)

 The legendary Floyd of Rosedale will be fought for under the lights at Kinnick Stadium this year.  Minnesota has had a tough schedule this year.  They almost beat 2. TCU at home, and it's not getting any easier.  This game will be the end of a gauntlet three week stretch that goes 15 Michigan, at 1 Ohio State, and at 10 Iowa.  The Gophers are going to have a tough time going bowling this year, already being at 4-3 and 1-2 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota will also have an interim head coach, after seizures from epilepsy caused Jerry Kill to retire, leaving Tracy Claeys the job for the rest of the season.

Minnesota is a fairly strong defensive team, but is a very poor offensive team, averaging 20.4 points a game, including getting shoutout at Northwestern, a team Iowa beat 40-10 on the road.

I expect this one to be pretty close, but I think Iowa has more talent and the home field advantage at night is huge.  I think Iowa will win.
2. @Indiana Hoosiers(Nov 7, TBD)
You know you have a favorable remaining schedule when the Indiana Hoosiers are one of your toughest opponents remaining.  Indiana is 4-4 and 0-4 in the Big Ten East.  So, another team that has struggled badly in the Big Ten. That includes a blown 25 point lead with 20 minutes left over lowly Rutgers at home.
Indiana's offense goes through the running back, the transfer from UAB Jordan Howard.  But, him and quarterback, Nate Sudfeld have missed some time and need to both be healthy if the Hoosiers are going to have a chance.  It will be an interesting matchup between Iowa's stout run defense.
But, Indiana cannot stop teams from scoring.  And with Iowa's great run game and C.J Beathard, this is a good matchup for Iowa.  I expect Iowa to win this game not handily, but it shouldn't be closer than two scores.

1. @Nebraska Cornhuskers(Nov 27, TBD)
This has been a down year for the Cornhuskers.  They are 3-5 and 1-3 in the Big Ten.  But, four of those losses came in the opposing team's last drive, including on a hail mary in the first game of the season against BYU. 
Coming into this game, most likely Nebraska will be 5-6 fighting to just get into a lowly bowl game.  But this is still a tough game.  If Iowa comes into this game 11-0, Nebraska would not let their rivals come in without a fight. 
Nebraska is really not good at anything, their defense isn't the Blackshirt defense it used to be, and the offense, led by Tommy Armstrong, Jr., who doesn't really fit into new head coach Mike Riley's scheme. 
I expect this game to be a low scoring battle that the Hawkeyes should win, and go into the Big Ten Championship at 12-0 with a great bowl game clinched and a big upset away from playing in the College Football Playoff.

Iowa's Better Than You Think

The Hawkeyes moved into the top 10 of the AP Polls today.  But they are not really being talked about for all of the right reasons.  And they aren’t nearly being talked about enough.  But, the truth is, Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes are 7-0, and right in the race for a birth in the College Football Playoff.

But, all the nation is talking about is the Hawkeyes schedule.   Nothing they have control over. Not how they have clawed to a perfect start, nothing about that.  Just their schedule.  How they haven’t played anybody.  But, they are completely incorrect and have no idea what they are talking about.   According to Hawkeye Nation’s Jon Miller, through the first eight weeks of the college football season, the Hawkeyes have had a tougher schedule than many of the other undefeateds in the whole FBS.  Teams such as TCU, Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Memphis and Toledo. 

Now, I know that Iowa’s second half of the season is easy, and they will be favored in the rest of the games they’ll play in the regular season, and in some, such as this weekend’s game against the Maryland Terrapins at Kinnick by seventeen at the time I was writing this.  But, you can’t question the games they have played up to this point in time.  In fact, Iowa and Alabama are the only two teams in the whole entire FBS to win on the road against two AP Top 25 ranked teams.  Of course, Wisconsin and Northwestern are no longer ranked, but both are receiving votes to become ranked.  But, the two teams Alabama have beaten?  Both fallen out of the rankings, and Georgia isn’t close to being ranked, and  Texas A&M is 26^th.  So, the Hawkeyes might just have the best road resume in the entire nation.

The Hawkeyes played a tougher non-conference portion than some of those teams as well.  They steamrolled a top FCS program in Illinois State, went on the road and beat rival Iowa State, beat now number 23 ranked Pittsburgh at home on a last play 57 yard field goal by Marshall Koehn, and destroyed probably the worst FBS team, who also got beat 66-7 by FCS Portland State, who might not even make it to the FCS Playoffs, and also fired their coach after that game, but I digress.  But who did the Baylor Bears play?

They went at SMU, Lamar, Rice.  That’s it.  That was their non-conference schedule.  Art Briles always does this, and it is pathetic.  But, nobody talks about that.  Or, that they are yet to play anybody with a winning record in the Big 12 or a good defense.  Let’s not forget about the SEC’s top teams.  LSU played Eastern Michigan, an awful FBS team, Western Kentucky, a good Group of Five team, and a cancelled game against a good FCS team in McNeese State.  Alabama has played Wisconsin in a neutral site Texas game, Middle Tennessee State, a bad Louisiana-Monroe team, and will play Charleston Southern in a few weeks.

People don’t give credit either to the toughness and scrappiness of this team.  They are not the most talented team, and they have had a huge sum of injuries.  Drew Ott is out for the season with a Torn ACL, LeShun Daniels has been hurt since the Iowa State game, Jake Duzey hasn’t played all year yet, and the hope is he will be back very soon.  Quarterback C.J Beathard hasn’t been healthy is weeks, Tevaun Smith was out for a few weeks, Ike Boettger and Boone Myers have been hurt on the offensive line, Jordan Canzeri might be out for a while after getting hurt in the first quarter of the Northwestern game.  The Hawkeyes were down to their third and fourth string running backs, Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell, and Wadley ran for four touchdowns. 

They also boast one of the top rush defenses in the nation, allowing only one rushing touchdown all season, and their defense is overall one of the top units in the nation.  So people need to quiet when they say they don’t have a great defense.

Their remaining schedule is favorable, and “Embarrassing” to some people at ESPN.  It’s Maryland, @ Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue, and @Nebraska.  Being in the West of the Big Ten helps Iowa a lot, so they play more of those 1-6 Purdue teams instead of Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.  Their East opponents in Maryland and Indiana are pretty favorable.   So, the nation should be be prepared for Iowa being 11-0 going into the Nebraska game, with the West crown locked up.  With a win, would be 12-0 going into a showdown with the Michigan State-Ohio State game.  So probably Ohio State.  America should be ready.  If they win that game, Iowa’s in the College Football Playoff.  Their schedule won’t matter.  Deal with it.

Iowa Moves Into AP Top 10

Even though the Iowa Hawkeyes had a bye week on Saturday, they still moved up in the polls.  In the AP Poll, for the first time since the 2010 season, the Hawkeyes are ranked in the top ten, as they come in at number Ten.  In the Coaches' Poll, the Hawkeyes are ranked at number 11.
They moved up by two in each poll, after losses by teams ahead of them, Utah and Florida State.  Utah got dominated by USC on the road, and Florida State lost on the last play by a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown against 3-5 Georgia Tech.
But, at the end of season, these polls won't matter at all.  That's because the only Poll that matters isn't coming out until next Tuesday.  That is when the Playoff Selection Committee releases their Poll.  It will be interesting to see how much different the Committee's Poll will be from the AP and Coaches.  There could be teams that the two polls are high on that the Committee isn't, and vice versa.
The road to the Playoffs looks pretty clear for the Hawkeyes.  But, it will be pretty interesting to see how far back from the top four the Hawkeyes will be next Tuesday.  My guess is, if they take care of business at home against Maryland on Halloween, is that they will probably be put around the 8-12 ranks.

NFL to Stream Game Online

The NFL is trying out something new for a game this weekend in London.  The 3-3 Buffalo Bills will face off against the lowly 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars. But, it will not be aired on CBS like AFC battles usually are.  It won't, because it will streamed online on Yahoo at 9:30 am.
This will be a great opportunity for the NFL. In the last few years, the game of American football had became more and more popular around the world.  Now, this game will be available to the whole entire internet, hence the "Watch With the World" slogan.
This has some people wondering if this is the future of watching football, and just sports in general.  Because, instead of having to have DirecTV and having to buy the Sunday Ticket along with that, a lot of folks are not able to get any other games besides the 2 local games that are going on at noon and the late afternoon games.  Of course, everyone gets the nighttime games.
I really honestly don't like the streaming idea.  I get how online streaming is becoming a big thing and people are switching from television.  But, I just think that it will stop sometimes and have many problems, and I would rather keep the Sunday Ticket.  But, I think it would be a good idea to use streaming for other people around the world to allow them to see the NFL on Sundays.

Early Look at NFL Season

Six weeks into the NFL regular season, and the playoff picture has started to shape itself out all ready.  So far, we have seen a lot of parity between all of the 32 teams.  It also seems like the teams that will compete for a playoff spot and the teams that will not compete for a playoff spot have greatly separated from each other.
There are always a few teams that are surprises, whether that team is a good surprise or a bad surprise.  One surprising team that is off to just an absolutely terrible start is the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens were projected by some to make the playoffs and even go all the way to the Super Bowl.  But their record?  It's 1-5.
I thought that they were overrated coming into the season, but I didn't think at all they would be this terrible.  But, Joe Flacco has been bad(and is still not elite), they have no receivers beside Steve Smith Senior, and their defense, the secondary has been the worst part of the defense.  Their playoff hopes are all but over.
Another surprise is the Seattle Seahawks.  The Seahawks are coming off of back to back Super Bowl appearances. They signed their quarterback Russell Wilson to a long term deal, and along with Kam Chancellor.  They are 2-4, and with the Cardinals in their division, they need to pick it up here before it gets too late.  Thought to have the greatest home field advantage in the whole NFL, they have all ready lost a home game, and got bailed out by a missed call from the official against a bad Detroit Lions team.
Two teams that were thought to be Super Bowl contenders are the Steelers and Cowboys, but both of their quarterback s got hurt.  The loss of Tony Romo has hurt the Cowboys really bad.  They are currently 2-3 and they are still weeks away from getting him back.  Brandon Weeden has gotten benched and Matt Cassel will start their next game after their bye today.  Although they are in a weak division, I think it will be hard for the Cowboys to put up enough points to stay competive until Romo gets back.
For the Steelers, they have been fine for the most part without Big Ben Roethlisberger.  They are 4-2, but Antiono Brown stats have been hampered greatly.  Mike Vick started the three games that Roethlisberger has missed, but after the great second half Landry Jones had, Jones will have to get the start if Roethlisberger can't go next week against the Kansas City Chiefs.  They are in a good spot to get in the Playoffs, even though the Bengals are leading the AFC North at 6-0.
The Indianapolis Colts were without Andrew Luck for two weeks, went 2-0, and are going to win the AFC South because it is terrible and all they will need it seven or eight wins, and are all ready at 3-2, even with Matt Hasselback.
A surprising good start is the 6-0 Bengals.  They were though to make the Playoffs, but were not expected to be this good.  I think that the Bengals will not go far into the playoffs, because they always start this way and the last four years they are 0-4 in the Playoffs.  I think they will probably win the AFC North, but I just don't see them winning more than one or two games in the Playoffs.
Another surprising team is the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers, so far have gone 5-0, and they look like they will be a tough out  come December and Playoff time.  Cam Newton leads a great offense and Luke Kuechly leads a tough defense.  The Panthers may have gotten one of the biggest wins of the season on the road at the Seahawks. 
So yeah, a lot of great surprises going on right now in the early portion of the NFL season.  Right now, I don't honestly see a favorite in the NFC.  I do see the Patriots as the faviortes in the AFC.  But, first let us see how they do with properly inflated footballs for the first time since like 2008.
In the NFC, I like the Packers to come out of the NFC, but that is not certain in my mind.  I like their home field advantage and Aaron Rodgers. 

Steelers play Cardinals After Last Play Win

Last Monday Night, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers on the final play.  It was first and goal from the San Diego one yard line with only five seconds left.  Le'Veon Bell got the ball on a direct snap via the long lost Wildcat formation.  It looked at first like he was going to get stuffed, but he stretched the ball over the goal line for a 24-20 Steelers win after the extra point.
Mike Vick looked good in the last ten minutes or so leading the Steelers to victory.  This includes breaking out a long run to convert on a 3rd and six.  Vintage Mike Vick.  He also had a 70+ yard bomb for a touchdown to Markus Wheaton.  Also vintage Mike Vick.
Now, Mike Vick is 1-1 as the Steelers starter, and is a made field goal away in the Baltimore Ravens game from being 2-0 under Mike Vick and 4-1 overall.
Luckily for the Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger participated  in seven-on-seven drills , and could play next week aganist the Kansas City Cheifs.  So, the question is can the Steelers win aganist a tough NFC West team with an explosive offense?
The Cardinals are good.  They might be the best team in the NFC.  They've got a three-headed monster at running back, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington, and rookie out of Northern Iowa David Johnson, the one who's been scoring all the touchdowns for the Cardinals.
They also have a rejuvenated Carson Palmer, off of his second torn ACL in his career. 
I think that Pittsburgh will stay close, but I think not having Roethlisberger will be the difference in this one.  I have the Cardinals in this one, 23-20.  Putting the Cardinals in the driver seat in the NFC West, and putting the Steelers at 3-3, but with the weakness past the division winners in both leagues, in a great spot to make a run at a playoff spot, with possibly Big Ben Roethlisberger coming back next week.

Iowa Moves to 7-0

For the first time since the 2009, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 7-0.  That, year, the Hawkeyes won ten games and won in the FedEx Orange Bowl 24-14 over their ACC foe, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and their vaunted triple option attack.
This year, the Hawkeyes got to 7-0 by demolishing the Northwestern Wildcats 40-10, the same team that ended Iowa's dream season at 9-0, and knocking out quarterback Ricky Stanzi.
Flash forward to this year.  Not only are the Hawkeyes undefeated, they have the easiest Power 5 schedule, they already own the tiebreaker over their two closest rivals in the Big Ten West, the Wisconsin Badgers at 2-1, and the Illinois Fighting Illini at 1-1, who were on a bye week.
Speaking of bye weeks, the Hawkeyes are on their bye week now.  Let's look at their remaining schedule the rest of the regular season.
The play the 2-4 Maryland Terrapins at home on Halloween.  Then they travel to play at the 4-3 Indiana Hoosiers.  Then they play for the Floyd of Rosedale at home aganist 4-3 rival the Minnesota Golden Gophers at primetime.  Then, they stay home for Senior Day aganist a terrible 1-6 Purdue team.  Then, the play for the Heroes Trophy at 3-4 forced rival Nebraska Cornhuskers.  
As of right now, the Hawkeyes are the heavy faviortes to win the West.  All they have to do is go 4-1 the rest of the way, and they are guaranteed to win the West.  Because, after next week after one-loss Illinois  and one-loss Wisconsin play, they will be the only team with only one loss, and the loser will basically be three games back of the Hawkeyes because of the head to head tiebreaker.
The bye comes at a perfect time for the Hawkeyes, with injured players such as LeShun Daniels, CJ Beathard and Tevaun Smith have time to get to 100%.  Jordan Canzeri has a sprained ankle, luckily for the Hawkeyes, as it looked bad, and it should take him longer than the bye to get better.
If the Hawks make the Big Ten Championship Game, they will most likely play number one Ohio State or number 7 Michigan State.  Number 12 Michigan is pretty much eliminated from contention in a heartbreaker at home aganist rival Michigan State.  My prediction is that Iowa and Ohio State will play in the championship, with Ohio State winning and going to the four-team playoff, with Iowa going to a good Bowl game, maybe the Rose Bowl, at 12-1.

Chase Utley's Slide was Dirty

It's the big controversy so far in the 2015 MLB Playoffs.  It occurred in the seventh inning yesterday of the Mets and Dodgers in Game 2 of their NLDS series.
There were runners on the corners with one out and the Mets were leading 2-1. The ball was hit to the second baseman who fielded it, and tossed it to the shortstop, Ruben Tejada.  Tejada caught it, spun, and got slid into by Chase Utley.  Tejada flipped over, and he went high.
Immediately, trainers rushed out, and not soon after they called for a cart.  They had to stabilize Tejada's leg by putting it in an aircast.  It turns out that Tejada broke his leg, which clearly means he is out for the rest of the year.
I feel really bad for Tejada.  He worked hard the whole year, and he gets knocked out by a dirty play.
Now let me explain why it was such a dirty play.  First of all, after Tejada spun, he was no where near the bag.  He was probably two feet or so off of the base.  Secondly, Utley started his slide past the bag. Lastly, he didn't slide into him, he tackled him.  It was such a hard slide, Utley tackled him.  If this was college football or the NFL, he would be called for an illegal hit on an defenseless receiver.
This was not a hard nosed play as some people such as Dodgers fans would say. 
This is the second time this year somebody has gotten hurt for the year on one of these plays.  In September, the Pirates Jung Ho Kang got hurt for the year by Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan, but I'm not sure that one was dirty.
For sure, the MLB will have to consider changing the rules to protect these middle infielders.  They did it with home plate collisions after Buster Posey got hurt, and they should do it now.
To make matters worse for the Mets, Utley was ruled safe because Tejada never touched the bag.  But, neither did Utley, so the umps straight blew it.  Also, it turns out the original call isn't challenge able, so to, ya know, make matters worse.
The Dodgers won 5-2, tying up the series up 1-1 as the series goes to New York, where they will have to face Matt "Batman" at Citi Field.  I think the Mets will go on and win in four of this best of five.  I think their pitching is too good.  I also hope they win because of the slide, and also because the Cubs(who will hopeful advance) went 7-0 aganist the Mets in the regular season.

Cubs Win Puts Cubs in Great Position

The Cubs won their first NLDS game since  2003, which included a seven game losing streak. 
The scoring started off in the bottom of the first when Cardinals leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter hit a rocket out to straight away center to lead off aganist Kyle Hendricks to make it 1-0.  But after that, it was seemingly all Cubs.
They got runners on the corners with one out, and Hendricks laid down, a sacrifice, but Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia fielded it and threw it pass first base, and there were runners on second and third.  Then, Young shortstop Addison Russell also bunted, and he got the run home.  Then center fielder Dexter Fowler had an RBI infield single. Right fielder Jorge Soler capped in all off with a 413 foot two out, two run home run.  The inning was also aided by second baseman Kolten Wong's throwing error into the dugout.
Cubs catcher Miguel Montero had an RBI groundout in the top of the third to round out the scoring for the Cubs.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Wong and Randal Grichuk hit back to back homers off of Hendricks, who's day ended one out away from being eligible to receive the win.
The Cubs bullpen came in big, with Trevor Cahill, Travis Wood, and Hector Rondon shutting the Cardinals down, as Rondon finished by getting the save.
So, the series is tied 1-1, and is coming back to Wrigley Field for game three.  Not only will Wrigley be lit, Jake Arrieta will get the ball for the Cubs.  Since it feels like Arrieta hasn't given up a run in forever and is currently the best pitcher in baseball, it feels like the Cubs are destined to win Game 3, and go up 2-1.
I agree, and I do think the Cubs will go up in the series.  The Cardinals are sending out Michael Wacha, who has struggled lately but has been good in the Playoffs.
Now, if the Cubs win Game three, they will want to seal the deal at Wrigley.  The question is, who do you start?  Jason Hammel was not good in the second half of the season.  You could bring Jon Lester back on short rest, which may not be likely, even more so if you have a lead.  You could also bring in a Clayton Richard or Travis Wood and have a bullpen day.
No matter how it works out, the Cubs are in the driver's seat.  They have flipped home field, and their stud ace is coming up.  I feel really good about their chances.  I'm sure that manager Joe Maddon and the Cubs feel the same way.

Cubs Move on to NLDS

Yesterday, the Cubs faced off against their divisional rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game.  Not only was a divisional game, it was a battle between the teams with the second and third best records in all of the Majors.  Yes, that is how tough the National League Central was this year, with the St.Louis Cardinals winning 100 games.

It started it in the top of the first when Dexter Fowler hit a single and stole second, and rookie Kyle Schwarber hit a bloop single the opposite field. It turned out that was all that the Cubs and Jake Arrieta would need.  But they weren't done.  In the bottom of the third with Fowler on First, and Kyle Schwarber pulled a bomb down the right field line that landed in the Allegheny River to make it 3-0.  With Arrieta on the mound, that was pretty much game over.    

But, Fowler hit a solo shot in the fifth to make it 4-0.  Then, in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, the Pirates hit into a double play to end the inning.

Later, Pirates reliever Tony Watson beaned Arrieta, and the benches were cleared.  The only person who got ejected from the game was Sean Rodriguez, who later took it out on a Gatorade cooler.  

With two outs in the ninth, Fransisco Cervelli lined out to second baseman Starlin Castro to end the game. That gave the Cubs their first playoff win since the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins in game four, and we all know how that ended.  It was also just their first playoff game since 2008.

But there is a new sense of hope for Cubs fans like me.  This win sets up the first ever playoff meeting between the Cubs and the Cardinals. Whoever wins this series, should be the favorite to come out of the National League to play in the World Series. 

Houston Astros vs the New York Yankees

The MLB Playoffs are now underway, and it all starts tonight with the American League Wild Card game.  It will be the Houston Astros going on the road to the Bronx to face off aganist the New York Yankees in New Yankee Stadium.
The Astros will send out Dallas Keuchel who is pitching on short days rest after pitching aganist the Diamondbacks in a 21-5 victory. The Yankees will send out Japanese import Masahiro Tanaka and his $175 million dollar contract.
The Astros will have the upper hand in pitching as Keuchel has a 2.48 ERA, and I don't think pitching on short rest will affect him.  Plus, if the Astros advance he will need to get used to pitching on short rest.
Tanaka comes in with a 3.51 ERA.  Tanaka has had elbow problems, but he has stayed pretty healthy all year.  It was him for sure to go tonight after C.C Sabathia checked into alcohol rehab yesterday.
My prediction is that the Astros will prevail in this one.  Keuchel has struggled on the road, and the Astros have a ton of young studs like many teams in this year's playoffs.  I think the Astros will win 3-2.

Steelers Need to Figure Out Kicking Problems

When you play on Thursday night, you're the only game going on, so you're in front of a national audience.  So everybody saw how terrible now ex-Steelers kicker Josh Scobee was.  In fact he was so bad, he probably cost the Pittsburgh Steelers the game.  He missed two field goals late in the game that each would've made the Ravens score a touchdown and putting the game on ice rather than a field goal.

It wasn't only Scobee's fault though.  Todd Haley called a terrible game, Mike Vick was erratic, and the normally sure handed Antonio Brown dropped a touchdown pass.

But, kicking has been a huge problem for the Steelers since the preseason.  During the Hall of Fame Game, nearly automatic Shaun Suisham tore his ACL trying to make a tackle.  Then, the Steelers signed former New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley, who hurt his hamstring in a preseason game.  Then, they traded a sixth round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for kicker Josh Scobee.

Now after only making six of ten field goals and missing an extra point, the Steelers cut their losses and let Scobee go, after signing Chris Boswell to be his replacement on a two year contract.

Boswell went to college at Rice, and had a great preseason with the Houston Texans, although the Texans held on to incumbent Randy Bullock, who later got released.

The fact is that whoever it is, the Steelers need an answer at kicker.  The Steelers coming into the season were hyped to be Super Bowl contenders, and they still can be.  Their defense has been much better than expected, and Ben Roethlisberger is on schedule to be back for the Chiefs game on the 25th, after getting a four to six week timeframe for recovery.

But if they can't make field goals, those points will all be mute.  If Scobee wasn't bad the first four games, they could be 4-0.  But instead, they are now a very average 2-2 and are without Roethlisberger for a few more weeks.  The last month has shown just how valuable a good kicker like Shaun Suisham is.

Another thing worth noting is that Boswell got signed to a two year deal.  Does that mean if Boswell has a great season, that Boswell takes over Suisham's job?  Of course, they can't think about that right now, but I think that's interesting considering now they have about six million dollars invested in kickers this year alone, and it'll be interesting to see how Boswell works out for the Steelers.

Iowa Hawkeyes Pick up Huge Win in Madison

It was ugly.  But after it's all said and done, it was a victory in the conference opener on the road. The Hawkeyes walked into Madison and beat  the number 19 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 10-6 for the Heartland Trophy.  It was the first time the Hawkeyes won the trophy since 2009.
The scoring started on the Badgers first drive, with a Rafael Gaglianone 46 yard field goal.  The scoring stalled until the end on the second quarter. George Little caught a one yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J Beathard for the only touchdown of the game after a Desmond King interception  Then soon after, Marshall Koehn added a 33 yard field goal off of a Drew Ott forced fumble.

The Hawkeyes defense stepped up big time in the second half.  The Badgers had the ball inside the Hawkeyes 34 in six possessions, all they got was a field goal.  One key play was halfway through the fourth when the Badgers had second and goal from the one after recovering a Beathard fumble inside deep in Hawkeye territory.  Nate Meier pushed a lineman back, who then stepped on Joel Stave's foot, and fumbled it and was recovered by the Hawkeyes.

Then on a 4th and two in the red zone with under a minute left, Stave over led his man, and it was over.

Iowa is now 5-0 for the first time since the Orange Bowl run in 2009, and are 1-0 in the Big Ten.  They are now ranked for the first time since 2010 at no. 22, and the West looks wide open.

A concern for the Hawkeyes is their offense.  Beathard completed nine passes for 77 yards, and all ten points were scored on a short field.  But, the good news is that the Hawkeyes will soon get back Boone Myers should be back soon, maybe next week and should get receiver Tevaun Smith back after the bye.

After the loss of Ben Roethlisberger, How Will the Steelers Do With Mike Vick?

Tonight on Thursday Night Football, one of the best rivalries in the NFL and sports in general, will take place, as the Baltimore Ravens will travel to Heinz Field to face off against their AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers at 7:25.  Except a big player will be missing.  That would be Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

It happened last week against St.Louis, a game I happened to be at.  It came during a drive in the middle of the third quarter.  It was a second down, a play after he had just been sacked.  He dropped back, and Rams safety Mark Barron hit Roethlisberger below the knee, and Roethlisberger went down, clutching his knee.  It looked bad.  The leg bent in a place where there is no joint.  Many people thought that he tore his ACL, which would mean he would be out for at least the rest of the season.
As the updates rolled in, the news got better. The Steelers had hope that Roethlisberger's ACL stayed in tact.  It turns out it was an MCL Sprain and a bone bruise.   He will be out four to six weeks.

So now the Steelers will trot out Mike Vick.  The Mike Vick who got arrested for dogfighting after being a star in Atlanta for the Falcons.  He was signed in the off season, a signing that caused an uproar by some in Steelers Nation.  But it is a good thing they signed him, otherwise the Steelers would be stuck with the bad Landry Jones.

The Steelers can be successful with Vick, but they need to have a simple game plan, with Vick being new, he doesn't know the playbook that well.  The Steelers need to throw a lot of underneath routes to Antonio Brown and Heath Miller and give the ball off to Le'Veon Bell, and use him in the passing game as well.  Plus, Vick gets Martavis Bryant back next week after a four-game suspension for failing four drug tests for marijuana in his first year in the NFL.

The Steelers don't need Vick to be a superstar.  They need him to get them through this stretch of games without Roethlisberger.  He needs to take care of the ball and use his legs. 

If he gets through the strech at 2-2, it wouldn't be a bad thing.  That would put them at 4-3 and put them in position for a playoff run, and have Big Ben back in time for a brutal strech to end the season.  Even without Roethlisberger, I project that Vick will use his weapons effectively, and Todd Haley and the coaching staff will have a good, simple game plan to get the Steelers.  I also think that the Steelers defensive will continue to improve, and be stout like they were last week in St.Louis, which they will need to be every week.  I think the Steelers will win in a dogfight,20-17

Cubs Pitching Problems

Coming into the season, it was known that pitching would not be their strong suit.  It was known that they would be a better offensive team, with their great wealth of position player prospects and young infield.  Like 26 year old MVP candidate first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez who came up in September, and Tommy La Stella, who was hurt most of the year.   Plus for sure the NL ROY, one of the most hyped prospects of all time, Kris Bryant, who came up in mid-April due to contract issues.  Kyle Schwarber, who has been a great hitter as advertised as a rookie. And Addison Russell, who the Cubs got in the Athletics trade last year, who has been a solid hitter and great fielder.  And Dexter Folwer and Chris Coghlan, who have been great catalysts.

This off season, the Cubs signed Jon Lester to a 155 million dollar deal, and Jason Hammel.  Lester has been good, and Hammel has been bad since the All-Star break after being an All-Star snub.  Jake Arrieta will clearly start the Wild Card game, but if they win that, will their pitching hold them back?

After those three, the Cubs have Kyle Hendricks and Dan Haren.  Hendricks has an ERA over four, and Haren hasn't been good since coming over in a trade with the Marlins.  I don't think Haren would be likely to get a playoff start.

So what would the Cubs do after Lester and Arrieta?  I have no idea, but one other starters going to need to be on top of their game.

Another problem is their inconsistent bullpen.  Sometimes it is lockdown, bit other times it is just plain awful.  Pedro Strop has been bad lately, but they have gotten contributions from September call-ups like former starter Trevor Cahill. 

This off season, the Cubs are expected to go after a big pitcher this off season, and are one of the favorites to get Toronto Blue Jays ace David Price.  That was the plan, to get position prospects in place, and sign free agent pitchers.  But the Cubs are a year ahead of schedule, as 2016 was the goal.  I think the Cubs could go far, but I don't know if their pitching could allow them to win the World Series.  It will be interesting to see what happens, whether the pitching besides Arrieta and Lester steps up, or if they'll hurt the Cubs chances at winning the World Series. 

Does the MLB's Playoff System Need Changing?

Everybody knows it.  The NL Central is the best division in all of baseball, by a mile.  The division includes the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals.  It's so good that the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs are the best three teams in all of baseball.  But only owe team can win the division, and the other two are heading to the dreaded Wild Card game. Gulp.

The MLB didn't even have the Wild Card game until three years ago in 2012.  Before that, only four teams got into the playoffs in each league, three division winners and one wild card team.  If that was still in place, we might have a 95 game winning team missing out on the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the NL West leading Dodgers and NL East leading Mets are sitting comfortably on top of their  divisions and are getting ready to battle it out in the NLDS.  The Dodgers are 85-64, while the Mets are 85-66.  So right now, the Dodgers are a game ahead of the Mets for home field advantage in the series.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 95-56, with all ready clinching a playoff spot.  The Pirates are 90-60, while the Cubs are 89-62.  So most likely, the Cardinals will win the division, with around a hundred wins.  That leaves the Cubs and the Pirates duking it out for home field advantage in the one game series, with the Pirates leading by a 1.5 game margin and the Cubs owning the tiebreaker.  Is that fair?

I don't think they should change the seeding after one year.  Because you never know how often that this situation will end up happening, and  teams should be rewarded for winning their division.

But, if this continues to occur, where the second wild card team would have have a better record than the two seed by four games, something would have to change.  If it needs changing, I would suggest that they seed the teams by record, not by division or wild card status.  Of course, if you won your division, you'd get in for sure, as winning a division is tough.   For example, the year the Cubs would play the Pirates in the NLDS and the Mets and Dodgers play in the Wild Card game with the chance to play the Cardinals.  It would avoid having to play the top two or three teams in the Majors play in the NLDS after knocking out another two three team.  But it is working great in the AL right now, so maybe it won't be that big of a deal. That is my thoughts on it, and it will be interesting if Commissioner Manfred will change anything, or if it will stay the same. 

NL Cy Young Race

As the baseball season winds down, the playoff races and award races come down to the wire.  One of the more tightly contested awards right now is the NL Cy Young award.  At this point in the season, the finalists have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and right now the winner will come from from a group of three pitchers.  Two are teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.  The other one in the race is Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta.

Zack Greinke has been consistently unbelievable all season long.  Greinke currently holds an 18-3 record with a 1.65 ERA, which is not only the lowest in the NL, but the Majors.  Greinke was also the NL's starting pitcher in the All-Star game held in Cincinnati.

If Greinke were to win the Cy Young, it would not be his first rodeo.  In 2009, he won the AL Cy Young when he pitched for the Kansas City Royals, aganist Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez in a landslide.

The amazing thing is, is that Greinke might not even be the Dodgers' ace.  The other Cy Young candidate on the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw.  Kershaw has compiled a 14-7 record with a 2.18 ERA.

Kershaw has been considered by some to be the best pitcher in the MLB since he entered the league seven years ago in 2008, outside of the playoffs where he has mightily struggled. I couldn't agree more with that statement.  A good example of his greatness can be seen by the accolades and awards that he has earned.  He has been an All-Star the past five years, won a Gold Glove, Cy Young, and the pitching triple crown in 2011 alone.  He is a three time Cy Young Award winner including 2011, 2013 and 2014.  In 2014, he also won the MVP which is the first time a pitcher did that since the legendary Bob Gibson did it in 1968.  He also also twice been the NL wins and strikeout leaders.  He also won the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award, showing he is also a great person off the field.  Oh, and he's twenty-seven years old.

Last but not least, is the Cubs' Jake Arrieta.  Arrieta has a 19-3 record and a 1.96 ERA.   Arrieta came in to the year not very well known outside of Cubs fans and Wrigley Field.  In the off season, the Cubs signed Jon Lester to a 6-year, 155 million dollar contract to be the Cubs' ace, but Arrieta has instead emerged as the ace.  All the Cubs had to do to get Arrieta was trade Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman to get him and Pedro Strop.  He has had an unbelievable second half of the season , with a no-hitter aganist the Dodgers and a 0.95 with one loss coming aganist Cole Hamels when he threw a no-hitter for the Phillies.

As of right now, I hope Arrieta wins it as a Cubs fan, but I think that Greinke will and should.  People think the Dodger vote will be split, but I think that Greinke will still win, and Arrieta will be the runner-up, with Kershaw in third.