Division Winners
East
Atlantic – Pittsburgh
Northeast – Boston
Southeast – Washington
Conference finals – Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia in a bitter, thrilling battle for Pennsylvania
Upstart team - Tampa Bay
The NHL playoffs get underway tonight. As a Canadian I am legally obligated to be a hockey fan, so this is always a bit of an exciting time of year. I don’t think that there is a championship any harder for a team to win than the Stanley Cup. This should be a very good playoff tournament as well – there are several teams that are legitimate contenders in each conference, and no clear, runaway favorite. That being said, I don’t think that the first round is particularly interesting this year. Actually, it’s a bit dull. In my mind seven of the eight higher seeds are legitimate favorites to should be able to come out ahead if they play their game, and the eighth, New Jersey, can as well as long as they play up to their potential. Here’s a quick look at each series:
1. Georgia might be first now, but they aren’t going to still be there by January.
2. Matthew Stafford will not be the number one pick in the draft.
3. USC has not been profitable against the spread in three seasons. I don’t expect that to change.
4. Notre Dame’s bug season is not going to materialize this year, and Charlie Weis is going to be in trouble because of it.
5. Missouri is the real deal. Their schedule doesn’t have a lot of obvious losses on it. None, really. Two games should be tough, two more could be a problem if they don’t have their act together, and the rest should be wins. Missouri is a real contender.
6. The winner of the Ohio State – USC game will play in the national championship
7. Michigan will win nine games this year. I wouldn’t touch them ATS, though.
8. West Virginia will not be in the BCS.
9. BYU will run the table ad be in the BCS.
10. Tim Tebow will not repeat as Heisman winner.
11. Colorado will be the best team with a bad record in the country. Their schedule is absolutely brutal, but they will continue to improve.
12. Stanford will finish higher than UCLA in the Pac-10 standings.
13. Nick Saban will annoy me at least 37 times this season. Charlie Weis and Jim Tressel will exceed that total. Steve Spurrier won’t quite make it to 37 times, but he’ll be close.
14. South Florida will win the Big East
15. Virginia Tech will win the ACC
16. Ohio State and USC are absolutel locks to win their conferences
17. Missouri will win the Big 12
18. I’ll take Florida in the SEC, but I don’t feel too good about it
19. Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan will, once again, be the most underappreciated player in the country.
20. Arizona State will lose twice, but will look very good otherwise and will be a tough bowl opponent.
21. It’s going to be a really long year for LSU.
22. Hawaii won’t be very good, but they will be much better ATS than they were last year.
23. Joe Paterno will be forced to retire after yet another frustratingly mediocre season.
24. This is the last season in a long while that Lane Kiffin won’t be a college coach.
