Breaking Down the Field (Part II)

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Let’s get right to the continuation of the top 25 breakdown. For the top 13 teams, please see yesterday’s post by clicking here. And good night UConn - can we please stop talking about them? They are not on the bubble, and cannot even see the bubble they are so far away after mailing it in last night against St. John's.

14. BYU Cougars
Why They Will: They can score points. They have scored over 100 three times and over 90 points on 6 other occasions. Yet the amazing part is that they only gave up over 80 three times, losing two of those 3 games. Guard Jimmer Fredette averages over 20 points a game and just dropped 49 on TCU last week. Much like an Australian model, they have talent, though it’s mostly unknown and you probably don’t want to cast her as the star of your blockbuster movie.

Why They Won’t: They are not battle tested, with no signature wins (Arizona & Arizona St do not qualify as quality victories. In addition, they were swept by New Mexico during the regular season.

Bottom Line: Their ability to score can make them a tough matchup in the first round, but they will struggle to get much further than that.

15. Tennessee Volunteers
Why They Will: They have already beaten both Kansas and Kentucky, the top two teams in the country during the season. They play pressure defense and have one of the more charismatic coaches in the country in Bruce Pearl. With Scotty Hopson playing like he is capable combining with Wayne Chism, this team has the skills to make a long run.

Why They Won’t: Since they jettisoned Tyler Smith from the team, the Vols have jelled, but they are not deep and have been extremely inconsistent. Are they too emotional? Like Katy Perry, they can wow you at times, but you know it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride.

Bottom Line: This is a team that will be very dependent upon their seeding. They have the talent to get to the elite eight, but they could also be ripe for a first round flop if they get a disciplined, methodic team from a mid-major conference.

16. Pittsburgh Panthers
Why They Will: Jamie Dixon teams are always tough defensively and bring full effort on every play. They are Christina Aguilera, a little rough around the edges, tough, and kind of a scary matchup.

Why They Won’t: They don’t have a consistent enough scoring threat, which can be a problem in the clutch. They are only 5-5 when they give up 70 points or more, and are 19-2 when they keep teams under 70, which will be tough if they get deep against some of the more prolific offensive teams.

Bottom Line: Their defense will propel them into the sweet 16, at which point they will likely run into a team that can play enough defense to stifle the Panther attack and send Pittsburgh home.

17. Temple Owls
Why They Will: The Owls have shown flashes of brilliance, beating Villanova, Penn State, Seton Hall and Virginia Tech. They tied for the conference title in the surprisingly tough Atlantic-10, which was a better conference than the Pac-10 this season.

Why They Won’t: They got annihilated by Kansas at home, and don’t have anyone averaging more than 14.5 points per game. Like Jenna Fischer, they are among the top choices in a small town/conference for the girl-next-door type. Unfortunately, the bright lights of the tournament want more flash.

Bottom Line: Their disciplined play will allow them to avoid an early upset, but they will be the #4 or #5 seed that the cinderella teams are hoping to catch in the second round. But look at the bright side, they still have Bill Cosby as their most recognizable fan.

18. Gonzaga Bulldogs
Why They Will: Like Butler, their status as an underdog expired a few years ago. They don’t sneak up on anyone, yet they continue to dominate their conference during the regular season.

Why They Won’t: Because they don’t sneak up on anyone anymore, they are consistently overseeded at this point, potentially protecting them in the opening round. Like Kathryn Heigl, they went from underrated to overrated and were exposed as lacking the talent to compete with the best competition.

Bottom Line: They are a prime candidate to get knocked off in the first round in a 12-5 or 11-6 upset.

19. Maryland Terrapins
Why They Will: Their best player, Greivis Vasquez, is not afraid of the big moment, and he actually thrives on them. They tied for the ACC regular season title, and have Shooter from Hoosiers stalking the sidelines – Gary Williams.

Why They Won’t: Vasquez has the ability to make or break a team, because when he’s hot he’s as good as anyone. Yet when he’s cold, he’s too arrogant to know that he should look to contribute in ways other than heaving another 3-pointer. Like Sienna Miller, they can draw you in with her flashes of talent, but you’re not sure if she’s stable enough that you want to hitch your wagon to them for the long-term.

Bottom Line: Because the ACC was unbelievably weak this year, the co-champs of the conference will likely end up as a #5 or #6 seed, which means they are in danger of a first-round flame out. Expect them to sneak through to the second round, where they will be dropped.

20. Vanderbilt Commodores
Why They Will: You cannot write off a team that won at Tennessee and swept Florida with an inside-outside attack from Jermaine Beal and AJ Ogilvy. They are like Rachel Bilson – well-rounded, and very likeable.

Why They Won’t: Consistency has not been their strength, evidenced by losses to Western Kentucky, Cincinnati and at Georgia. They have the talent to play with most teams, but they don’t seem to have the focus, which brings into question the ability of their coach to take them to the next level.

Bottom Line: They appear to be a prime candidate for a first round upset due to their inconsistency. They tend to play up or down to their competition which could lead them to losing to a Sienna or the other upset sweethearts.

21. Baylor Bears
Why They Will: They are very overlooked in the sneaky tough Big 12, where they swept Texas and Oklahoma and beat Arizona State on the road. Like Tina Fey, they are sneaky attractive, in that you don’t think about them in that way at first. But then after you look past the 2003 incident where a Bear player was convicted of killing a teammate, the school brought in Scott Drew (brother of NCAA Tournament legend Bryce Drew) who has turned the program around.

Why They Won’t: They don’t have the required go-to guy that can generate his own offense when things break down. That’s the biggest weakness I can see on this sleepy team that no one is talking about.

Bottom Line: They are a great sleeper pick to get to the elite eight, as they have a team that plays well together and if they get hot, could knock off a top seed in the sweet 16.

22. Georgetown Hoyas
Why They Will: They have the Lt. Aldo Raines coach in John Thompson III, a leader that the players believe in and will do whatever he needs them to do. That measured approach to the game allows them to play well in big games because the team doesn’t get overly emotional. They also have the Jenni Farley, “J-Woww”, frontcourt with Greg Monroe and a guard in Austin Freeman that everyone is rooting for after learning he is dealing with diabetes.

Why They Won’t: They are not a great outside shooting team, and despite the strong play of Monroe & Freeman, they go into scoring droughts which can be the end of teams in the tournament.

Bottom Line: This is a team that lost to Syracuse, beat Duke, lost to South Florida and then beat Villanova all within 2 weeks. Yet, when they are hot, they are as good as anyone, and it would not surprise me to see them in the elite eight.

23. Texas A&M Aggies
Why They Will: Like Maggie Gylenhaal, some people are into this team, yet I don’t really understand how or why they are successful. The Aggies finished tied for second in the Big 12, and played Kansas close during their only meeting. They play tough defense and can grind it out in the tournament.

Why They Won’t: They don’t still have Acie Law, do they? Because he was pretty good and that was a Texas A&M team that had the skills to go deep in the tournament. They can’t win without Law.

Bottom Line: Another team ripe for a first round upset, and if they do manage to get by the opening round, they will be cannon fodder in the second round.

24. Xavier Muskateers
Why They Will: Like Anne Hathaway, they are disciplined, a little uptight and talented. They are still a mid-major from the Atlantic-10, yet they are viewed as closer to one of the big boys. Guard Jordan Crawford leads a strong offensive attack and has the ability to take over games when needed.

Why They Won’t: They played a fairly tough schedule, but did not come away with a signature non-conference win, losing to Marquette, Baylor, Kansas State and Wake Forest, and beating LSU & Cincy.

Bottom Line: if they can snag a #6 seed, they will be a dangerous matchup for the #3 seed in the second round. Look for them to win one and then be eliminated.

25. UTEP Miners
Why They Will: This is the school that hasn’t been relevant since they produced a third of the best backcourt in the NBA – “Run TMC” in Golden State. Tim Hardaway is a UTEP alum and made famous his cross-over which he called the UTEP-Two-Step. In his honor, they get the Kim Kardashian backcourt award. Does this UTEP team actually have a strong backcourt? I have no idea.

Why They Won’t: Quick – name the conference UTEP plays in! You can’t. Most people can’t. It’s Conference USA, which has been dominated by Memphis for years. They have a high-scoring guard in Randy Culpepper, but they have not beaten anyone of note outside their conference.

Bottom Line: They are the classic team for the 8-9 seed matchup in the first round, meaning it will be a tough call in the first round, and then they will get blown out by a top seed.

So there it is – The Sports Addict breaks down the top 25 like no one else. We will continue to focus on the tournament as we are only 8 days away from Degenerate Christmas when the tournament tips off. It’s the most wonderful time…..of the year…….

Make sure to check back on Monday after Selection Sunday - I'll be setting up a free bracket challenge with an opportunity to win swag from your favorite college team.

NFL Power Rankings - How I Met Your Mother

Tiger-free for two days and counting……

No big introduction to the NFL Rankings this week. The best comedy of the decade in my humble opinion is “How I Met Your Mother,” so the rankings are broken down based on the characters of the show. The show started out as a comedy/mystery about how Ted Mosby meets his eventual wife, and basically morphed into a modern, funnier version of Friends. Though we’re still mildly interested in how Ted actually finds his wife, it’s more entertaining to see what new schemes Barney can pull off. And word is that after the new year, Rachel Bilson will be joining the cast. The hits keep coming for the show.

This week’s biggest climbers in the rankings are the Dolphins and Giants. The biggest drop in the rankings belongs to the Steelers and 49ers. By the way…..there is a new “Snuggie” and it’s called “The Dreamie” – it’s a sleeping bag made of a sheet or fleece. People are dumb.

Barney Stinton Tier (Neil Patrick Harris)
Barney has become legend…….wait for it……….dary with his pick-up lines, and schemes that end up with some random woman leaving his apartment in a daze. There is no better word to describe Barney than “awesome” and he let’s you know in almost every episode. Thankfully they stopped that real relationship with Robin and can get back to showing him as the whiter, shorter, and less golfing-gifted, television version of Tiger Woods. (Dammit there goes the streak). These are the teams that keep us coming back to watch more football each week to see what they can do next.

1. Saints (last week: 1) – They should have lost to the Redskins and dropped out of this top spot. When Suisham missed that short field goal, it was like the Saints used The Force to push the ball out of the goal posts, which reminds me of a Barney Stinson quote: “Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits and I'm awesome. I'm your bro—I'm Broda!!”

2. Colts (2) – The Colts have repeatedly said they will rest their starters once they clinch all they can clinch. That means we’re going to get some good Jim Sorgi time!!

3. Chargers (4) – They are on fire right now, and based on their past, they are probably the team that scares the Colts the most.

4. Bengals (5) – They haven’t blown out poor competition, but they continue to win games and with the Ravens and Steelers slip-sliding away, they are about to lock up the division.

5. Cardinals (7) – The Cards “suited up” for their prime time destruction of the Vikings and appear to be peaking at the right time. More important, their defense was more impressive than their offense.

6. Vikings (3) – Don’t overreact to one week. There were polls out there “Did Favre Hit the Wall?” and people expecting this to be the late season swoon from the Vikings. They lost their second game of the season to a very good team, on the road, and Favre had his first bad game of the season. Allow them an attempt to rebound before writing them off.

Robin Scherbatsky Tier (Cobie Smulders)
Robin plays the stereotypical “hot” girl of the show, with the girl-next-door good looks and great personality. She was the first girl that we started to believe could possibly be Ted’s eventual wife. Along the way, Older Ted referred to her as “Aunt Robin” so it was basically being told to us that she wasn’t the one. Yet we wanted to believe that she was better looking, and more likely to end up with Ted than she actually was. Which is why these teams fit in the category – we really want them to be “the one” team that can win it all, but they all have some fatal flaws that have been telling us all along that they will not win the crown.

7. Eagles (10) – Hard to tell if Michael Vick’s role is really going to expand or if Andy Reid jus threw him a bone for his return to Atlanta.

8. Packers (9) – Their defense is playing as well as anyone in the league right now, creating turnovers and controlling every game. I’m still not sold on McCarthy’s game management skills – his challenge of a sure TD against Baltimore left them without a challenge (they also challenged successfully earlier in the game) with more than a quarter and a half left in a close game.

9. Cowboys (6) – They have a brutal schedule ahead and they already lost their first game in December. The Cowboys are like the Anti-Santa Claus: they are around all year and disappear in December.

10. Broncos (13) – They’re the epitome of the Robin Tier, starting the season looking like the one, falling apart and giving it a go with the “naked man” at one point, and then getting it back together and making you think that maybe, just maybe, they have a shot. They don’t.

11. Giants (16) – Tom Coughlin has the ability to rally his troops when they are hanging by a thread. They’ve now swept the Cowboys, combining with their schedule to give them the inside track to knock the Boys out of the playoffs.

12. Pats (8) – They probably deserve their own tier – The Naked Man Tier. Because they appear to be desperately throwing a hail mary and consistently going for it on 4th down, proving that Coach Belichick has absolutely no faith in his defense.

13. Ravens (11) – Joe Flacco is suffering through a sophomore slump, and it is putting the Ravens’ playoff hopes on the rocks.

14. Dolphins (21) – The Dolphins have the look of Robin, really good at times, but other times, not so much. You never know if you’re going to get the good or bad Robin and you never know which Dolphins team will show up each week. Maybe it’s because she’s Canadian – in the show and in real life.

15. Jets (17) – Speaking of Canada, the Jets are the kings of Canada. Kind of like Robin’s Canadian pop star days, it’s meaningless.

16. Jaguars (20) – They keep winning, so they can’t be ignored. Well, except by all of their fans in Jacksonville.

Stella Zinman Tier (Sarah Chalke)
Stella was the girl from Scrubs who because a regular on the show as Ted’s dermatologist-turned-girlfriend-turned-fiancé. She started off with some rough baggage, having a 6 year old daughter, and living in Jersey. She then captured our hearts and made it all the way to the wedding day before flaking out and leaving Ted at the altar. Kind of reminds me of……..

17. Titans (15) – Started off with some baggage, got super hot and everyone was talking about them running the table. Then they hit the Colts buzz saw and their back with their old boyfriend “losing streak”.

Ted Mosby Tier (Josh Radnor)
Supposedly the main character of the show, as the entire show is based upon Ted finding his future wife. Ted goes through some tough transitions in his life with women and his jobs/career. You want to root for him because he does appear to be a really good guy, but at the same time, he has some of that desperation quality that makes it pretty obvious why women run away. They want to see some confidence and some spontaneity, and Ted has been lacking in both. These teams lack the confidence and despite a lead role, they have fallen to an also-ran level.

18. Falcons (14) – They cannot go far without a healthy Matt Ryan. And Ryan is not healthy, as his Sergeant Hulka (see the movie Stripes if you don’t get the reference) is banged up.

19. Steelers (12) – After losing to the Chiefs and Raiders, the problems must be bigger than just Troy Polamalu.

20. Texans (18) – They should take a lesson from Ted’s two-minute drill, when he wooed Stella because he was a closer. They lack the ability to close, and Gary Kubiak will be fired as a result.

Marshall Eriksen Tier (Jason Segel)
Marshall provides the physical comedy as the quirky friend, and is also part of the married couple on the show with Lily. The stories very rarely focus on Marshall, but he has the ability to dominate a show for a few minutes with some great lines, a singing about what he’s doing.

21. Panthers (23) – Benching Jake Delhomme had to help, but it was against the Bucs, so it’s hard to tell if it really means anything yet.

22. Seahawks (26) – They showed some life by beating the 49ers, and might be singing a song about the arrival of Mike Holmgren in the near future.

23. Bears (22) – Marshall is from Minnesota and is a huge Vikings fan, so he would probably be disappointed that the Bears are in his tier. But that’s what happens when your offense has disappointed, and the team will be looking for a new head coach after the season.

24. 49ers (19) – Losing to the Seahawks to crush any hopes of the playoffs? I guess they’re still the Niners.

25. Raiders (28) – They have been playing well with Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback, and it might have saved Tom Cable’s job. I can see the Cable household resembling Marshall’s family, with a bunch of oversized dudes who like to rough-house.

26. Redskins (25) – Washington is playing much better and they could play spoiler in determining who wins the NFC East.

Simon Tier (James Vanderbeek)
One of my favorite episodes was Simon’s appearance as Robin’s childhood crush. He grew up in Canada with Robin and was in a band and Robin was his groupie. He makes a trip to New York as an older, fatter Canadian still trying to play in the band. Robin still has a crush on him, and answers whenever he would call, “Eh, babe.” until he once again leaves her without explanation.

27. Bills (24) – The part Canadian team in the NFL did not exactly put on a great show for their new fans. And why would they give up an outdoor home game in December when the potential for cold weather could be beneficial for them?

Lily Aldrin Tier (Alyson Hannigan)
Lily is Marshall’s wife, and usually the attempted voice of Barney’s conscience. I’m not sure what it is about her, but she annoys me. Maybe it’s that she is manipulative and always scheming to make things right according to her world. I don’t know, but she has a nasty temper, and I rarely am entertained by her comedy. Yet, she works as part of the show, and it’s a good role for her.

28. Chiefs (27) – The Chiefs are the Slap Bet Commissioner of this sorry group of teams, and each team below them should get slapped for being incompetent.

29. Lions (29) – Lions fans can remember their two wins this season like this one time…..at band camp………C’mon, did you really think I would leave that out of any time I mention Alyson Hannigan? It’s just a requirement.

30. Buccaneers (30) – Josh Freeman had his “Mark Sanchez” moment last week, with 5 interceptions. They have been competitive, but still have quite a bit of work to do.

31. Browns (32) – Maybe the Browns don’t need to draft a quarterback. If they would put down the QB-hook and allow Brady Quinn to go through the learning process (like the Lions are doing with Stafford, the Jets are doing with Sanchez, and the Ravens are doing with Flacco), he might just prove that he is as good as he was projected to be.

32. Rams (31) – They should apply for a painting fellowship in San Francisco and go away for three months. That would save their fans the embarrassment of the rest of the season.