My NCAA Friday night on the couch

I have to tell you. I'm having such a fun night with my buddies on my couch at home in front of the 55" HD TV. Here are some random thoughts I had tonight while taking in good friends, good basketball and GREAT BEER!

• I hope you don't think of me or my 'gang' differently when I tell you that my 28-year-old buddy told me he was coming over after he took care of his "nine-month-old baby and 14-inch dick." I know, that's just plain wrong. That's just not good blog quality.
• My dad is also over here. We wager on the games. It's fun. Usually, we pick against each other (sometimes, he can be a moron when it comes to picking games). But tonight, we have the same parlay: Vandy +8 vs. Georgetown, Butler +10 vs. Florida, USC +8.5 vs. North Carolina, and Oregon -3.5 vs. UNLV. We'll see what happens.
• Dad is watching the Roy Williams "there was a dime on the counter" Coke commercial.
  
  And after Roy finishes his story, my pops blurts out "bullsh*t." Pretty funny.
• We all like the Cingular commercials. All of them. The "dropped call campaign" with the boy asking the girl if she "felt a connection", along with the "tennis ball in the kitchen."
• Georgetown beats Vandy on a Jeff Green shot with two seconds left. I think Green travelled. But I'm not telling, because I got Georgetown in the championship game.
• James Brown and Len Elmore are doing the Midwest Regional in St. Louis. And, to put it bluntly, they suck. I don't know if I'll ever get used to James Brown doing play-by-play of college basketball. Keep him on The NFL Today, and let's move on.
• If I had to rank my two favorite play-by-play men: 1. Jim Nantz, 2. Gus Johnson (huge love affair here, for reasons like the one below).
  
  
• We think it's cool that Thad Matta has a superstition that his little daughter must pick out dad's tiewear before every game, regardless of his ridiculous he may end up looking.
• Don't look now, but Billy Packer, for some reason, is growing on me. And I can't figure out why. Since the whole Duke-UNC catastrophe where he took up for Gerald Henderson--where Packer totally sounded like a nimrod in my opinion--he's been surprisingly good and interesting. Nice work Billy. At the moment, I like you, for the first time.
• Dad thinks there should be a "line cam." Where refs could replay an "out-of-bounds" call. OK Dad.
• You know, I really think I'm going to have to have my dad on for a segment. He's very opinoinated tonight. Right after I give Billy Packer a compliment, I hear Pops on the other side of the room yelling "ahhh shut up Billy."
• The two most annoying commercials remaining on television: 1. Obviously, the John Mellancamp "This Is Our Country" campaign, and 2. The Hampton Inn "I've Been Everywhere, Man" song. For the love of all that is March Madness, please!
• What a run by North Carolina in the second half. And, no Mr. Packer, USC aren't tired. They just lost it whenever Gibson picked up his fourth foul for USC. Great game... one of the best of the tournament, except for the fact that there wasn't some crazy finish.
  

EZ MONEY: THURSDAY PICKS

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK - THURSDAY 3/8/07
Big Ten (1-2)
Minnesota +8.5 vs. Michigan (MICH, 49-40) ** LOSS **
Northwestern +11.5 vs. Michigan State (MSU, 62-57) ** WIN **
Illinois -11 vs. Penn State (ILL, 66-60) ** LOSS **

Big East (1-3)
Georgetown -4.5 vs. Villanova (G'TOWN, 62-57) ** WIN **
Syracuse +2 vs. Notre Dame (ND, 89-83) ** LOSS **
West Virginia +3.5 vs. Louisville (UL, 82-71) ** LOSS **
Marquette +5.5 vs. Pittsburgh (PITT, 89-79) ** LOSS **

ACC (3-1)
Florida State (pick 'em) vs. Clemson (FSU, 67-66) ** WIN **
Miami +13 vs. Maryland (MIA, 67-62) ** WIN **
Duke -9.5 vs. NC State (NC ST, 85-80) ** LOSS **
Wake Forest +10 vs. Georgia Tech (WF, 114-112) ** WIN **

Atlantic 10 (0-1)
Dayton +9.5 vs. Xavier (XAV, 72-51) ** LOSS **

MAC (1-0)
Eastern Michigan +9.5 vs. Toledo (TOL, 62-54) ** WIN **

Big 12 (0-1)
Oklahoma -7 vs. Iowa State (OKLA, 68-63) ** LOSS **

SEC (1-0)
Kentucky -6 vs. Alabama (UK, 79-67) ** WIN **

Conference USA (1-0)
Rice +5.5 vs. UCF (RICE, 53-51) ** WIN **

THURSDAY RECORD: 8-8 (.500)

CONFERENCE TOURNEY RECORD: 20-14 (.588)

EZ MONEY: WEDNESDAY PICKS

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK - WEDNESDAY 3/7/07
Big East (3-1)
Villanova -5 over DePaul (NOVA, 75-67) ** WIN **
Connecticut +3.5 over Syracuse (CUSE, 78-65) ** LOSS **
West Virginia -3 over Providence (WV, 92-79) ** WIN **
Marquette -7 over St. John’s (MARQ, 76-67) ** WIN **

ATLANTIC 10 (4-0)
Dayton -2 over Charlotte (DAY, 81-63) ** WIN **
Richmond +8 over Fordham (FORD, 63-61) ** WIN **
Duquesne +9.5 over St. Louis (STL, 78-77) ** WIN **
St. Joe -2.5 over Temple (STJ, 66-62) ** WIN **

MAC (2-2)
Eastern Michigan +2.5 over Ball State (EMU, 51-48) ** WIN **
Bowling Green +7.5 over Ohio (Ohio, 69-59) ** LOSS **
Central Michigan +2 over Buffalo (CMU, 80-74) ** WIN **
Western Michigan -6.5 over Northern Illinois (WMU, 67-62) ** LOSS **

CONFERENCE USA (2-2)
Rice +4 over UTEP (RICE, 77-74) ** WIN **
Southern Miss -4 over SMU (So Miss, 59-52) ** WIN **
UAB -4 over Marshall (MARS, 53-52) ** LOSS **
Eastern Carolina +11.5 over Tulsa (TUL, 65-50) ** LOSS **

PAC 10 (1-1)
Cal -5 over Oregon State (CAL, 71-50) ** WIN **
Arizona St. +6 over Washington (WASH, 59-51) ** LOSS **

WEDNESDAY RECORD: 12-6 (.667)

UPDATED EZ MONEY

Interesting weekend of college basketball. Don't you just LOVE this time of year?

Didn't make any of the three games from our "big Three" part of our EZ Money. Good thing. I probably would've missed on all of them.

Here's an updated record of EZ Money.

EZ MONEY: COLLEGE BASKETBALL

12/6 - Villanova (-1) vs. OKLAHOMA ** WIN ** (NOVA, 67-51) [1-0]

12/7 - NOTRE DAME (-2) vs. # 5 Alabama ** WIN ** (ND, 99-85) [2-0]

12/7 - Florida State (-10) vs. GEORGIA STATE ** WIN ** (FSU, 87-55) [3-0]

12/9 - Indiana (+5) vs. KENTUCKY ** PUSH ** (UK, 59-54) [3-0-1]

12/11 - Mississippi State (+1.5) vs. MIAMI (Fla.) ** WIN ** (MISS ST, 70-52) [4-0-1]

12/12 - Central Florida (+4) vs. MINNESOTA ** LOSS ** (MINN, 73-64) [4-1-1]

12/13 - Louisiana-Lafayette (+5.5) vs. NEW ORLEANS ** WIN ** (NO, 70-66) [5-1-1]

12/14 - Chattanooga (+7) vs. CHARLESTON ** WIN ** (CHAR, 62-60) [6-1-1]

12/20 - UC Irvine (+17) vs. DEPAUL ** WIN ** (DEP, 65-53) [7-1-1]
12/22 - KENTUCKY (-7.5) vs. Massachusetts ** WIN ** (UK, 82-68) [8-1-1]
12/22 - BUTLER (-10) vs. Evansville ** WIN ** (BUT, 76-65) [9-1-1]
12/23 - Miami (+9) vs. LOUISVILLE ** LOSS ** (UL, 82-59) [9-2-1]
12/23 - Dayton (+13) vs. PITTSBURGH ** LOSS ** (PITT, 84-54) [9-3-1]
12/28 - CLEMSON (-6.5) vs. Georgia ** WIN ** (CLEM, 75-60) [10-3-1]
12/28 - NORTH CAROLINA STATE (-12.5) vs. East Carolina ** LOSS ** (NC ST, 64-57) [10-4-1]
12/28 - UCLA (-12) vs. Washington State ** LOSS ** (UCLA, 55-52) [10-5-1]
1/11 - Nevada (-8) vs. SAN JOSE STATE ** WIN ** (NEV, 74-65) [11-5-1]
1/23 - Indiana vs. ILLINOIS (UNDER 133.5) ** WIN ** (ILL, 51-43) [12-5-1]
1/31 - Connecticut (+4) vs. DEPAUL ** LOSS ** (DEP, 66-58) [12-6-1]
1/31 - Ohio State (-3) vs. PURDUE ** WIN ** (OHIO ST, 78-60) [13-6-1]
2/5 - Syracuse (+4) vs. CONNECTICUT ** LOSS ** (SYR, 67-60) [13-7-1]
2/5 - Wisconsin-Milwaukee (+11) vs. WRIGHT STATE ** LOSS ** (WRIGHT ST, 76-50) [13-8-1]
2/7 - Illinois vs. NORTHWESTERN (OVER 108) ** LOSS ** (ILL, 58-43) [13-9-1]
2/14 - Ohio State (-11) vs. PENN STATE ** LOSS ** (OSU, 64-62) [13-10-1]
2/14 - Duke (+2) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE ** WIN ** (DUKE, 78-70) [14-10-1]
2/15 - PURDUE (-2.5) vs. Indiana ** WIN ** (PUR, 81-68) [15-10-1]

15-10-1

EZ MONEY: College Hoops UPDATE!

Some of you have e-mailed to ask how I've been doing on my EZ Monday picks.

I'll be honest. I only like to give you what I think are pretty good locks. And once the conference season begins, those are a little harder to come by.

But rest assured, I look every day for picks FOR YOU!

Here's an update.

EZ MONEY: COLLEGE BASKETBALL
12/6 - Villanova (-1) vs. OKLAHOMA ** WIN ** (NOVA, 67-51) [1-0]
12/7 - NOTRE DAME (-2) vs. # 5 Alabama ** WIN ** (ND, 99-85) [2-0]
12/7 - Florida State (-10) vs. GEORGIA STATE ** WIN ** (FSU, 87-55) [3-0]
12/9 - Indiana (+5) vs. KENTUCKY ** PUSH ** (UK, 59-54) [3-0-1]
12/11 - Mississippi State (+1.5) vs. MIAMI (Fla.) ** WIN ** (MISS ST, 70-52) [4-0-1]
12/12 - Central Florida (+4) vs. MINNESOTA ** LOSS ** (MINN, 73-64) [4-1-1]
12/13 - Louisiana-Lafayette (+5.5) vs. NEW ORLEANS ** WIN ** (NO, 70-66) [5-1-1]
12/14 - Chattanooga (+7) vs. CHARLESTON ** WIN ** (CHAR, 62-60) [6-1-1]
12/20 - UC Irvine (+17) vs. DEPAUL ** WIN ** (DEP, 65-53) [7-1-1]
12/22 - KENTUCKY (-7.5) vs. Massachusetts ** WIN ** (UK, 82-68) [8-1-1]
12/22 - BUTLER (-10) vs. Evansville ** WIN ** (BUT, 76-65) [9-1-1]
12/23 - Miami (+9) vs. LOUISVILLE ** LOSS ** (UL, 82-59) [9-2-1]
12/23 - Dayton (+13) vs. PITTSBURGH ** LOSS ** (PITT, 84-54) [9-3-1]
12/28 - CLEMSON (-6.5) vs. Georgia ** WIN ** (CLEM, 75-60) [10-3-1]
12/28 - NORTH CAROLINA STATE (-12.5) vs. East Carolina ** LOSS ** (NC ST, 64-57) [10-4-1]
12/28 - UCLA (-12) vs. Washington State ** LOSS ** (UCLA, 55-52) [10-5-1]
1/11 - Nevada (-8) vs. SAN JOSE STATE ** WIN ** (NEV, 74-65) [11-5-1]
1/23 - Indiana vs. ILLINOIS (OVER 133.5) ** WIN ** (ILL, 51-43) [12-5-1]

12-5-1

Now, enjoy a little Dikembe Mutumbo towering over Laura Bush to his left, and a really small lady to his right.

Big East just isn't that good

Undoubtedly a good win for the Cards over UConn. I thought that the win was sloppy, but it looks like U of L is going to have to win these kinds of games to be successful this year. U of L is going to have to win games like that. Healthy as well. That's huge.

I will be honest. At halftime, I wrote on my little notepad "SLOPPY, NEITHER TEAM IS A TOURNAMENT TEAM." And I can't believe I'm going to say this, but after the game ended, I wanted to go back and scratch that I said that. I mean, that first half was pathetic. Horrid. But I really learned three things from this game:

1. The Big East sucks! This is the Big East this year. This year's Big East is nowhere near last year's Big East. Not even close. Which means that Louisville, who really is a lot like last year's team plus a couple of talented freshmen and minus Taquan Dean, they move up the Big East ladder by default. Not because Louisville is all that much improved, but because other teams straight lost more! UConn lost FIVE NBA DRAFT PICKS. FIVE! Syracuse is down compared to last year. As are many other teams, Georgetown, West Virginia (who I think is the serious sleeper, even with the loss to Cincinnati). Marquette and Pitt are the teams that really stand out in my opinion.

But the Big East... listen, Louisville may finish in the top half... but you don't automatically get in to the field if you finish in the Top 8. You've got to be 9-7 AT THE LEAST (depending on how many big wins come from those nine). Other than that, it's 10-6 that gets you in. The Big East just isn't that good.

2. Rick Pitino needs to be credited for having an unbelievably terrific defensive game plan against UConn. He said in his pregame that he watched the Indiana tape and when he did his final scouting report, he was just going to slow UConn down and not let them get into the up and down game, and that totally worked.

Pitino knew that this UConn team was worthless in the halfcourt, didn't have a lot of good outside shooters with the exception of AJ Price and got a lot of their points out of transition and second chance points. And Pitino drew it up like so... get back on defense fast, keep them out of their transition offense, play a bunch of zone, because if not, these guys can beat you off the dribble and get to the hold, just MAKE THEM go through their painfully boring zone offense and see if they can beat us that way.

It was a great game plan. I'm very high on Pitino today because I thought he did a lot of good things last night. And I don't really want to say he outcoached Jim Calhoun, beacuse there's only so much a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores like UConn can do (just ask Ricky-P).

But I will say this--Rick Pitino had a much better game plan for UConn than Kelvin Sampson did for UConn. I know IU fans hate to hear that, but Kelvin Sampson, he just doesn't strike me, at least after 18 games, as a guy who likes to play a lot of zone, but that's what you need to do against this UConn team. Don't give them a chance to penetrate on you or get into an up and down game. Playing a zone keeps you from doing that.

3. MOST IMPORTANT*** Louisville is NOT ON THE BUBBLE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT YET. Don't get overly excited. It's easy to get excited when you beat UConn. IU fans did it too. The "UConn" name just sounds good. But, you got to look at it this way. This isn't even Louisville's best win when you look at the RPI. It's their fourth best. UConn is ranked 88th today in the RPI. Louisville has wins over DePaul (ranked 65th in the RPI), Providence (54th), and FREAKING OHIO (76) who all have better RPI rankings than UConn. Here's Louisville's results with RPI's attached. Thanks Ken Pomeroy!

STILL A GREAT WIN... and I still say that this game, and not any of the other games, was Rick Pitino's best coaching job all year, even though it was a horrid game to watch!

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 11-5-1

Indiana vs. ILLINOIS UNDER 133.5 ** WIN **

Record going out: 12-5-1

Burton to stay at Kentucky

A source painfully close to the situation in Lexington says Keenan Burton said by phone today that he would stay on with Rich Brooks and the Wildcats for one more year. We found out just after 5 PM today.

Many people are e-mailing me saying that his dad and other people close to Burton keep saying that he still HAS NOT made up his mind.

To that I would answer two ways:
1. If he hasn't made a decision, then why would he schedule a press conference?
AND
2. If you were going to have a press conference like this, wouldn't you ask your close friends and relatives to tell a little "white lie" so that you yourself can reveal the news at YOUR press conference? It's only logical people.

In fact, it should be noted that Keenan DID NOT even mention to the University his plans. And maybe not even Rich Brooks, who is out of town coaching in the North-South All-Star Game.

So Cats fans, just sit back, relax, and know that the remaining piece of your offensive puzzle is staying at the University of Kentucky next year.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 10-5-1

Nevada (-8) vs. SAN JOSE STATE ** WIN **

Record going out: 11-5-1

A small Music City Bowl preview

Well, I'll be traveling here soon, and probably won't be able to revisit the blog until after the Music City Bowl game tomorrow, so I thought I would go ahead and give you my very brief analysis. And let me do my analysis via betting trends.

The line on the game is Clemson favored by 9 1/2. However, the betting public is moving the line towards Kentucky. A quick stat that might tickle your fancy... The betting public is correct when moving the money line in KENTUCKY games 37.9% of the time over the past 3 seasons (11-18). THAT'S ASTOUNDING. That stat right there has got me very nervous about taking Kentucky.

As far as the over-under is concerned, consider this:
The betting public is correct when moving the total in KENTUCKY games 75% of the time over the past 3 seasons (15-5).

TAKE THE OVER at 57 1/2. It should be a high scoring affair.

Here's what I am doing. I'm doing a teaser, taking Clemson at 3 1/2, and taking the OVER at 51 1/2.

It seems like a nice bet to me, and here's why. When looking at bowl games, I look a LOT at coaching staffs and bowl history. How many times has your team going to a bowl in the recent past, and do you consider your coach (JUST YOUR COACH, not your team) better than the opposing coach?

My answers, Kentucky has been to no bowls in the last three years. Clemson has been to one. That's super-important. Clemson knows the month-long bowl routine. It's a lot. An awkward break from the norm at the beginning of December, with just lifting and conditioning. Then a couple weeks of practice, followed by a week of festivities that are WAY outside the norm in the host city.

That makes a difference come game time. An experience that may seem surreal to Kentucky's players has already been experienced by most of Clemson's players.

And when it comes to the better coach? The coach who I would rather have with a month to prepare? Sorry, I'm taking a Bowden.

So tease that Clemson number down, and tease the over down as well. Then, you'll be set.

If you are looking for a straight bet, take the over at 57 1/2. It's a lot of points, but with Kentucky's weak defense, and fairly-potent offense, I expect many points.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 9-3-1

CLEMSON (-6.5) vs. Georgia
NORTH CAROLINA STATE (-12.5) vs. East Carolina
UCLA (-12) vs. Washington State

Record going out: _____

Turmoil all around: Louisville hosts Miami

Happy Holidays to all of the loyal Big EZ fanbase (all six of you).

Miami comes in to Freedom Hall today, and no one knows what to expect from this Louisville team. But I know how I'm betting. Louisville has failed to cover a spread now since the Arizona game. And all of the games in between have been AT HOME!

So, until they show me different, I continue to bet against Louisville, even if they ARE playing a team who has lost to Buffalo, Cleveland State, and Binghamton.

At least they beat Georgia Tech. A signature win this year, which is one more than Louisville has in TWO non-conference seasons.

Also, I like Dayton today as well. Take them to the bank. My solid record is on the line baby.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 9-1-1

Miami (+9) vs. LOUISVILLE ** LOSS **
Dayton (+13) vs. PITTSBURGH ** LOSS **

Record going out: 9-3-1

When does Pitino take the blame?

Derrick Caracter was sent home today, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino announced at his regular day-before-a-game press conference.

Let me say this first: Caracter is partially to blame for all that has happened. There's no doubt about that.

But when will we point a finger at Rick Pitino?

Add Caracter to a list of players, seemingly growing by the year, that have been ousted by Pitino. Have all these players--including, but not limited to, Lorenzo Wade, Brandon Bender, Carlos Hurt, and others--been in the wrong every time? Doubtful.

There's one common thread with these many transfers and defections. Rick Pitino. See here and here just to name a few.

Yet, there are a loyal group of fans that continue to turn a blind eye to that one common thread. It's pathetic on one hand, but on the other hand, you've got to commend that kind of blind loyalty to Pitino by a solid group of backers, given the repetitiveness of these defections.

But it's a catch-22. Jurich won't get rid of Pitino. At least no time soon.

And why should he? Louisville, through the good times and bad, enjoys one very important title: Most profitable basketball program in America. And that is because of Pitino.

So let the transfers and 20-month mediocrity continue. And Jurich will continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 7-1-1

KENTUCKY (-7.5) vs. Massachusetts ** WIN **
BUTLER (-10) vs. Evansville ** WIN **

Record going out: 9-1-1

A nice pic of Tara "The Animal" Conner, and EZ Money

I'll let our Miss USA party with me any time. That's all I have to say.

EZ MONDAY: College Hoops
Record going in: 6-1-1

UC Irvine (+17) vs. DEPAUL ** WIN **

Record going out: 7-1-1

Some final thoughts on U of L-UMass

I don't think I've received more e-mails over a Louisville basketball game in the one-year plus I've done talk radio in this town.

Some final thoughts...

• If the Louisville hoops team is 'young' AGAIN, then let's play the young guys a little more than six (Caracter) and 11 minutes (Clark, with eight points, and great outing I thought). The 'young' excuse is tough to use on Padgett, Palacios, Jenkins, and even T-Will. Sosa is the only inexperienced player that I saw get significant minutes. Granted, he did nothing special.


• Does anyone else think the everyone involved with the 'cupcake' non-conference scheduled should at least shoulder part of the blame?


• New A-10 standings: t1. UMass (1-0), t1. Dayton (1-0), 3. Louisville (1-2), 4. St. Joe's (0-1). Be pumped for the Big East.


• I can't help but to think that there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that we aren't seeing. It can't be ALL Pitino. He's not that bad. I guess what it boils down to is I've got too much repsect for the man to put all the blame on him.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 5-1-1

Chattanooga (+7) vs. CHARLESTON ** WIN **

Record going out: 6-1-1

BCS is the Playboy Mansion of college football... and U of L got invited

Were you ever that kid that got made fun of a lot in grade school, and maybe even in high school. Didn't get to hang out with the cool kids in school, and you were the guy everyone looked at when you showed up to a cool-people party when you weren't invited but somehow heard about it?

Luckily, I was never that kid. Well, maybe in grade school.

That's basically what you got with Louisville football. They used to be the nerdy guy. That 1-10 team, and even teams surrounding it... they were that pathetic nerd that you hoped would never show up at your party.

Louisville football was that nerd a while back. But over the last couple of years, these real cool guys, Tom Jurich and Bobby Petrino, come in and says 'hey I think you're cool'... come to a party with me.

And then the Louisville football, over time, becomes a little more popular. Then some other guys decide to jump in and go, hey I think you've got a good thing going with that guy, I'll hang out with you. Enter Brian Brohm, Michael Bush. They decide that nerd that was Louisville football, was cool. And then this nerd grabs a little more steam. And more fans start to get involved, because this nerd is becoming just a little bit more popular. Now, boy you are REALLY popular because you have an entourage. In this case, the fans and things of that nature are the entourage.

OK now, use that same analogy here. In the NATIONAL scope. You're that new guy. Now it's not the Brian Brohm's and the Michael Bush's that took a chance on you when they thought you were sort of a semi-nerd. Now, it's the BCS Committee who thinks you're the nerd. Like it or not, you're still that nerd.

You are there by default, well kind of. Yes, you deserve to be there. But you got the default invite. Right now, you're that guy at the office whose a real big nerd and no one likes, but you still got the invite to the company party because you are doing a real good job and you are a valued employee. Other people get invites to those parties because their cool. You're going by default.

Because if you don't win the Big East, sorry buddy, you're not in the BCS, because you aren't the cool schools like Notre Dame and LSU are. They go because they're cool. Not because they didn't anything spectacular at the office.

As popular as Louisville is in the regional landscape. Now you are getting invited to the big boy party nationwide. The BCS is like the Playboy Mansion of college football. You're that nerd all over again. Time to get on Hugh Hefner's good side.

And to become the real popular guy nationwide, you need to go support your nerd. Got to get everyone down there.

You have to go. If you can figure out a way. I mean, hop in a car. If you've ever even thought about a Louisville football game before, then you have to try to find a way to show up at that game. Jurich expects 40- to 50- thousand? Bring 55.

See the BCS (i.e. Hef) always has these parties, and they're usually all right around the New Year. You're getting invited to one of his parties. You've GOT to make a good impression.

Why does Notre Dame always get invited? Why do SEC teams who don't get the automatic invite still always get invited? They get invited because they bring fans... they help local economies. They're guaranteed to fill up the seats!

Louisville needs to OVERDO it, from an attendance standpoint, at the party.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record coming in: 4-1-1

Louisiana-Lafayette (+4.5) vs. NEW ORLEANS ** WIN **

Record going out: 5-1-1

Is the Grossman bashing really recessary?

When do we look at something and just decide, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The NFL is arguably the toughest league to win a championship. You have 11 players of offense, 11 players on defense, 11 players on special teams... all working in unison. It's a tough thing to accomplish.

So why, when a team is tied for the best record in the league after 14 weeks (11-2) do we still question the starting of a quarterback? Do we question Thomas Jones? Do we question Mushin Muhammed?

We don't.

Now granted, the quarterback position is unique. But that position doesn't have to be BRILLIANT when you have a defense like Chicago's.

Even after all of the times we've said "defense wins championships", we still question Chicago and their chances, just because they have Rex Grossman. Enough is enough already.

OK, now it's time once again for a little EZ Money.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 4-0-1

Central Florida (+4) vs. MINNESOTA ** LOSS **

Record going out: 4-1-1

One reason why Louisville is better than West Virginia

My Cardinal friends look no further than this link right here to be happy you are not involved with the Mountaineer program!

Just some other things I came across last night and today...

• Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr GUARANTEES a BCS playoff


• UK fans can breathe easy. Morris won't go to the NBA. At least not midseason.

But, with my limited time tonight, I DID want to give my EZ Money College Basketball Pick of the Night.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 3-0-1

Mississippi State (+1.5) vs MIAMI (Fla.) ** WIN **

W-L Record going out: 4-0-1

IU-UK Gameday Blog

I may update this post from time-to-time today. But really I'm just excited to be here. It's nice to see this game have a little "home-court advantage", regardless of which way that home court advantage goes. I've really got only one pick for EZ Monday today, and that is for this IU-UK game.

First off, I think the UNDER in this game is a LOCK. I see a very slow-paced game. We'll see how it turns out, but I see a lot of zone as well as both teams only have one real inside threat and both coaches will try to keep that player out of foul trouble early.

I see IU falling to a very bad start. They will trail by double digits in this game thanks to the home crowd of which IU players have never seen before. But IU will claw back late in the second half thanks to very good defense forcing UK to take some very ill-advised shots. IU may even come back and take the lead. I see this one going down to the wire, but UK holds on.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 3-0

Indiana (+5) vs. KENTUCKY ** PUSH **

W-L Record going out: 3-0-1

Some first half thoughts:

• The defense from both teams is very solid. Ill-advised shots on both ends making it tough for either team to get anything going offensively.
• DJ White had a better first half than I expected.
• UK free throws are hurting them in the first half.
• If IU doesn't double Randolph than he will have 30 before the day is out.
• IU's open looks seem not to be falling.
• Good surge at the end of the first half for UK. Getting Stevenson involved may be the 2nd half key for the Cats.
• HALFTIME: UK 28, IU 26 (sidenote: UK is 5-0 when tied or leading at half... 0-3 when they trail)

Second half droppings:

• UK picking up their pace, to the pleasure of former UK standout Kenny "Sky" Walker sitting two seats down.
• DJ White is not going to be able to do it all by himself today for Indiana. A guard will need to get involved.
• Either team is two outside shots away from breaking the game open. Neither is shooting well from outside.
• IU's offensive rebounding has been very impressive in this game.
• Sheray Thomas gets booed when he comes into the game.
• Earl Calloway is the first guard for either team that decides that he can take over this game as he sparks a 6-0 run, scoring four of those points, giving IU the lead back at 39-36 with 12:38 remaining.
• Kentucky responds with an 9-0 run of their own to take a 45-36 lead.
• E-MAIL: Someone wrote and asked if I would tell them how many IU fans I can estimate being here. Let me tell you... it's not much. I'll say 1,000 at most.
• I never would've thought DJ White would win the battle underneath today, but he has.
• Morris should touch the ball inside each possession. It's a shame he isn't. That keeps Indiana in it.
• Indiana's defense is insane good, but their offense just can't match it this early in the season.... or so it seems.
• The hard work by both of these teams today is to be commended. It's not often you see a knock-down dragout like this one. I'm appreciative. The Cats earned this one!

QB Talk... AND EZ Money

As I will try to attempt to do three-four times a week on this blog, I'll try to show you a couple of the interesting things listeners have e-mailed or I've come across myself as I browse the good ol' World Wide Web, as well as give you the 'almost-famous' EZ Money, my picks for tonight's game.

I started my college basketball picks with Villanova (-1) over Oklahoma, and boy those Wildcats pulled through, so I'm 1-0.

It's interesting. Today, I got a lot of stuff on quarterbacks that are neither in college nor the NFL... at least not right now.

According to MySanAntonio.com, former Green Bay Packers star QB Bart Starr is getting threatened by an 81-year-old woman named Ruby. Problem is, I found nowhere in the article what exactly Mr. Starr did. Must have been bad, or maybe she's just trying to get money.

Then thanks to a listener (thank you James D. from St. Matthews), I give you future Louisville QB Matt Simms. Who won a state championship at his dad's old stomping grounds (Giants Stadium), and then after his teams 41-0 revenge win over St. Peter's (Simms' team was beat in the final last year by St. Peter's), Simms decided to let the fans of his fallen opponent know whats up!

I, for one, do not have too much of a problem with it. Evidently, Simms really got it handed to him by the fans at St. Peter's for a full year. Now, obviously, he'll have to show a little better judgment when he comes to Louisville. If Bobby Petrino saw this, he'd be running for days. But all in all, no biggie. In fact, I like the fire.

Prepare for a little IU/UK prediction tomorrow. Now, onto my picks for tonight in college basketball.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 1-0

NOTRE DAME (-1.5) over Alabama ** WIN **
Florida State (-9.5) over GEORGIA STATE ** WIN **

W-L Record going out: 3-0