NCAA Hockey Predictions

The 2012 NCAA Frozen Four tournament starts on Friday. Although only 16 teams make the tournament, it's very hard to predict. With fewer teams making the field, the lowest seed can beat the highest seed in the first round. My Frozen Four consists of Michigan, Union, Western Michigan, and Boston College. I haven't seen Union play, but Michigan, Western, and BC have been playing very well as of late, and I think all 3 teams will make it deep into the tournament.

As you can see, I struggled with BU. They were playing really well at the start of the year, but after losing the Beanpot Championship to BC, they just haven't looked as sharp lately. They also fell to Maine in the Hockey East semi-finals. The team has had a lot of distractions this season (two rape allegations), and ultimately, I just don't see them doing very well this tournament.

How to Watch March Madness at Work

If you're like me, you'll find yourself having to work during many of the March Madness games. While I was interning, my boss was just as interested in the games as I was (it helped that he was a Cornell alum and they were playing), so we set up a laptop to stream the games on. I no longer have that luxury and will have to be a little bit more...creative in how I stay up to date with the games. Here are 5 ways to catch March Madness live, even if you're stuck in the office.


1. Download the App: I know it's on the iPhone, and probably most other smart phones: NCAA March Madness Live. This free app allows you to check scores, fill out and follow your bracket, get game alerts, and listen to live game radio. For the price of $3.99 you can steam all 67 games live.

2. Get a Second Monitor: If you have the luxury of having two monitors at your work station (it helps if you frequently use both), just dedicate one of the screens to March Madness. Watching the games on mute will help conceal your actions. If it's like last year, CBS' website had a link that instantly switched the video feed to a hilarious flowchart.

3. Bring in a Small TV: This only works for the games that are being broadcast on a local station, but a small TV should be pretty easy to conceal in your desk.

4. Watch it on Your Desktop Anyway: If no one else can see your screen, keep the games open in a different window and minimize it any time you think someone might be about to walk by. If you get caught up in a game, be sure to hit buttons on the keyboard, or click your mouse a few times, to make it sound like you are working.

5. Call in Sick: If you have some sick days, or vacation days, use them up and stay at home to watch the games on your couch. Or, go to a sports bar. No one can judge you if you start drinking at noon (when the first games of the day usually start) during March Madness.

*Disclaimer: you are NOT allowed to blame me if you get caught trying these tactics. These strategies may lead to disciplinary actions, or even termination from the workplace.

NCAA Basketball Predictions

Here is my bracket for the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. I'm usually much better at predicting football games, but we'll see how it goes. My Final Four is Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio State, and North Carolina, with North Carolina winning it all.

College Football Bowl Picks Part 4

Here's a bold statement that isn't so bold at all: the ACC is the most irrelevant BCS football conference. They just can't win. Clemson was embarrassed by a Big East school (West Virginia) last night, which I would normally say is worst conference in college football. The final score was 70-33. Virginia and Virginia Tech were also beat by other conferences this week. The ACC is 2-6 in bowl games this year.

In last week's picks, I was 5-8. My bowl record is now 16-10, which puts the season record at 128-47.

AT&T Cotton Bowl: Kansas State vs. Arkansas > Arkansas
BBVA Compas Bowl: SMU vs. Pittsburgh > SMU
GoDaddy.Com Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois > Northern Illinois
Allstate BCS Championship Game: Alabama vs. LSU > Alabama

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Last night, Michigan won the Allstate Sugar Bowl over Virginia Tech, by a score of 23-20 in OT. Virginia Tech got the ball first in overtime, but missed a field goal, which was being kicked by a former (and by former, I mean all season long) third string kicker. When Michigan got the ball, they ran three very conservative run plays, and then made a field goal for the win.

While I'm very excited about Michigan winning a BCS Bowl again, it almost feels a little cheap. Sure, Va Tech had the same opportunity, but college football overtime has teams start at the 25 yard line--that's a 37 yard field goal, which is in range for any kicker in division 1. At least have teams start at the 50 or something. Oh well.

Sugar Bowl Champs! How Sweet it is!

College Football Bowl Picks Part 3

With over a week off from writing, I completely forgot that I needed to submit my picks for this weeks bowls. Unfortunately the games that were played last night, won't be getting any picks. It's less than an hour from the first bowl game today, so these picks are barely getting in. Last week I was 6-2, which puts me at 11-2 for the bowl games, and 112-37 on the year.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Texas A&M vs. Northwestern > Texas A&M
Hyundai Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Utah > Utah
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt > Vanderbilt
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois vs. UCLA > UCLA
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Virginia vs. Auburn > Virginia
Ticket City Bowl: Houston vs. Penn State > Penn State
Outback Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia > Georgia
Capital One Bowl: Nebraska vs. South Carolina > Nebraska
Taxslayer.Com Gator Bowl: Ohio State vs. Florida > Florida
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio: Wisconsin vs. Oregon > Wisconsin
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State > Oklahoma State
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech > Michigan
Discover Orange Bowl: West Virginia vs. Clemson > Clemson

College Football Bowl Picks Part 2

Well, so far five bowl games have been played. And, so far, I have watched exactly 0 plays in all five games combined. Since I'll be driving in the car all day tomorrow, I won't be around to submit my picks for the upcoming week of games, so they're coming at you today. Last week I was 5-0 with my picks. This bumps me up to 106-35 for the year. Here are the picks for this week:

MAACO Bowl: Arizona State vs. Boise State > Boise State (picked last Friday)
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Nevada vs. Southern Miss > Southern Miss
Independence Bowl: Missouri vs. North Carolina > North Carolina
Little Ceasers Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Purdue > Purdue
Belk Bowl: NC State vs. Louisville > Louisville
Military Bowl: Toledo vs. Air Force > Air Force
Holiday Bowl: Cal vs. Texas > Texas
Champs Sports Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Florida State > Florida State
Alamo Bowl: Washington vs. Baylor > Baylor

College Football Bowl Picks Part 1

Tomorrow starts off the 2011 Bowl Season. Most of the games this week might be considered "Toilet Bowl" games, but hopefully they will at least be entertaining games. For these first few games, a lot of them are teams that I haven't seen play this year, and the picking may reflect that.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Temple vs. Wyoming > Temple
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs. Utah State > Ohio
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: San Diego State vs. LA-Lafayette > LA-Lafayette
Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl: Florida Int'l vs. Marshall > Marshall
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: TCU vs. LA Tech > TCU
MAACO Bowl: Arizona State vs. Boise State > Boise State

NHL Realignment

Earlier (this is kind of old news), the NHL Board of Governors voted to approved a realignment plan for the league, which will take effect for the 2012-2013 season. Instead of the current two conference, six division format it currently has, the league will change to a four conference set-up. The conferences haven't been named yet--don't worry, it won't be Conference A, B, C, and D. Here are my suggestions for the conference names: A would be the Pacific Conference; B would be the Central Conference; C would be the Northeast Conferece; and D would be the Atlantic Conference. Essentially, the Western Conference is now Conferences A and B, and the Eastern Conference is now Conferences C and D, with the exception of Winnipeg moving to Conference B.

The main purpose of this change is for travel. Teams like Columbus and Detroit in the Western Conference, are in the Eastern Time Zone, but frequently have to travel to the Pacific Time Zone (3 hours behind) to play games. I can sympathize with that. Being a Chicago fan (Central Time Zone), but living in the Eastern Time Zone, I hate when they play on the West Coast, as games start at 10 pm, or 10:30 pm Eastern Time.

The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the Stanley Cup play-offs. The four winners of each conference will meet in the third round of the play-offs, with the winners meeting in the fourth round to play for the Stanley Cup.

My favorite part of this realignment is the new scheduling. Each team in the league will play every team in the league at least twice every season; once at home, and once on the road. This is something that I thought should've been happening a long time ago. Living in Boston, I'm disappointed that I have not had more opportunities to see my Blackhawks play in person.

I think the worst part of the realignment is that Conferences C and D have one less team than Conferences A and B. This will really come into play during play-off time; three teams will be left out of the play-offs in Conferences C and D, while four teams will be left out from Conferences A and B.  I'm really hoping that expansion to a 32 team NHL is in the near future.

I even have suggestions for what cities should get the two expansion teams. It's not really a secret that I really want to see a team come back to Connecticut. Conference D will get the Hartford Whalers. They still have throngs of fans, their merchandise still flies off the shelves, and I believe the team would do well back in the old city. Rivalries would quickly be renewed with the Rangers, Islanders, and Bruins, and the league would benefit from having another team in hockey-rich New England. The city does desperately need to build a new arena before expansion to Hartford can be considered.

The second expansion team would go to Conference C. In fitting in with the league's alignment plan based on travel, this team will be somewhere on the East Coast. The city of Quebec has plans to build a new NHL arena, which will really make the city more appealing to the league. Fans from Quebec city even travel in large numbers to games in other cities as an attempt to show the league what a great fan base they would have. They would also bring up a very strong rivalry with the current team in the Province of Quebec: the Montreal Canadiens.

College Football Bowls

Here is a complete list of all the college football bowl games this year. I'll do picks for the bowls every week. Stay tuned...In the meantime, here is a list of every bowl; that's right, all 35 of them:

12/17: Gilden New Mexico Bowl: Temple vs. Wyoming, 2 pm
12/17: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs. Utah State, 5:30 pm
12/17: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: San Diego State vs. LA Lafayette, 9 pm
12/20: Beef O'Brady's Bowl: Florida International vs. Marshall, 8 pm
12/21: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: TCU vs. LA Tech, 8 pm
12/22: MAACO Bowl: Arizona State vs. Boise State, 8 pm
12/24: Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Nevada vs. Southern Miss, 8 pm
12/26: AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: Missouri vs. North Carolina, 5 pm
12/27: Little Caesars Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Purdue, 4:30 pm
12/27: Belk Bowl: Louisville vs. NC State, 8 pm
12/28: Military Bowl: Toledo vs. Air Force, 4:30 pm
12/28: Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl: Cal vs. Texas, 8 pm
12/29: Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State vs. Notre Dame, 5:30 pm
12/29: Valermo Alamo Bowl: Washington vs. Baylor, 9 pm
12/30: Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: BYU vs. Tulsa, 12 pm
12/30: New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Rutgers vs. Iowa State, 3:20 pm
12/30: Music City Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest, 6:40 pm
12/30: Insight Bowl: Iowa vs. Oklahoma, 10 pm
12/31: Meineke Car Care Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Northwestern, 12 pm
12/31: Hyundai Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Utah, 2 pm
12/31: Liberty Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30 pm
12/31: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois vs. UCLA, 3:30 pm
12/31: Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Virginia vs. Auburn, 7:30 pm
1/2: TicketCity Bowl: Houston vs. Penn State, 12 pm
1/2: Outback Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia, 1 pm
1/2: Capital One Bowl: Nebraska vs. South Carolina, 1 pm
1/2: Gator Bowl: Ohio State vs. Florida, 1 pm
1/2: Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon, 5 pm
1/2: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State, 8:30 pm
1/3: Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. VA Tech, 8:30 pm
1/4: Discover Orange Bowl: West Virginia vs. Clemson, 8:30 pm
1/6: AT&T Cotton Bowl: Kansas State vs. Arkansas, 8 pm
1/7: BBVA Compass Bowl: SMU vs. Pitt, 1 pm
1/8: GoDaddy.com Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois, 9 pm
1/9: BCS National Championship: Alabama vs. LSU, 8:30 pm

College Football Week 15 Review

For the 10th year in a row, Navy beat Army. The final score was 27-21. While it wasn't the most exciting game of football ever--both teams run an option offense and I'm pretty sure there was a total of 7 pass attempts all game--it is always something exciting to watch. I find it more interesting just seeing everything else that goes on during the game. For example, both the President and Vice President were in attendance. And it's always special when the two teams sing their Alma Mater after the game.

The Navy win put me at 1-0 for the weekend. My overall record now stands at 101-35 for the regular season, which is a .743 win percentage.

College Football Week 15 Picks

Well, there's only on game this week, but it's a big one. Not because it has bowl implications, or two teams playing for a conference championship. In fact, the combined record of the two teams is 7-15. The reason this game is such a big one is all about pride. It's the annual Army (3-8) vs. Navy (4-7) game. Neither team is bowl eligible, so for these two prestigious academies, this game is their National Championship. It seems that everyone in the country is on one side or the other for this game; perhaps most often because of a close relative serving in one branch or the other. While the competition may last for 60 minutes, at the end of the day, the men and women from West Point and Annapolis are on the same team. It's impossible to watch this game and not feel a tremendous amount of pride in being an American.

Army vs. Navy > Navy

College Football Week 14 Review

This weekend all the cards fell into place and Michigan is going to a BCS Bowl! Not only that, but they are playing in a bowl that I'm fairly confident they will win. They will play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on January 3 in New Orleans. Some of the Conference winners this week were: LSU (SEC), Oregon (Pac-12), Clemson (ACC), and Wisconsin (Big 10).

This week my record was a prefect 6-0, which improves my overall record to 100-35. Next week is the final week of the regular season, which is the big Army/Navy game. I'm still trying to decide the best way to do bowl game predictions...

College Football Week 14 Picks

The Pac-12 Championship game is tonight, featuring UCLA and Oregon. I don't think anyone (including me) is really expecting this to be a competitive game, though. The ACC, Big 10, and SEC all play their conference championships this week. The Big 12 will crown a conference champion, but they no longer play a championship game. Every game this week is a big one.

UCLA at #9 Oregon > Oregon
#22 Texas at #17 Baylor > Baylor
#14 Georgia vs. #1 LSU > LSU
#10 Oklahoma at #3 Oklahoma State > Oklahoma State
#5 Virginia Tech vs. #20 Clemson > Clemson
#15 Wisconsin at #13 Michigan State > Wisconsin

College Football Week 13 Review

Well, this weekend certainly didn't disappoint from a college football standpoint. Michigan beat Ohio State for the first time since 2003! They're currently #16 in the BCS. Wisconsin beat Penn State and will play Michigan State in the first ever Big 10 championship game. LSU handled Arkansas in the SEC, and it looks like they will play Alabama for the national title regardless of what happens anywhere else.

In Games I Care About I was 5-1. In Big Games I was 5-2, which puts me at 10-3 for the weekend. My overall record is now 94-35.

College Football Week 13 Picks

There are a few key match-ups this weekend. Virginia plays Virginia Tech for the chance to play Clemson in ACC championship. In the Big 10, Michigan renews their rivalry with Ohio State. I don't feel like looking it up, but Michigan hasn't beaten Ohio State in the past 5 or 6 seasons. And, a game with huge BCS implications as LSU hosts Arkansas on Black Friday. There are 6 games this weekend with both teams in the top 25, as well. What it all means is a big slate of picks this week.

Games I Care About:
#25 Texas at Texas A&M > Texas
Ohio State at #15 Michigan > Michigan
Tennessee at Kentucky > Tennessee
Duke at North Carolina > North Carolina
Ole Miss at Mississippi State > Mississippi State
UCLA at USC > USC

Big Games:
#3 Arkansas at #1 LSU > Arkansas
#13 Georgia at #23 Georgia Tech > Georgia
#2 Alabama at #24 Auburn > Alabama
#5 Virginia Tech at Virginia > Virginia Tech
#19 Penn State at #16 Wisconsin > Wisconsin
#17 Clemson at #12 South Carolina > Clemson
#22 Notre Dame at #6 Stanford > Stanford

College Football Week 12 Review

Oklahoma State lost at Iowa State this week, so once again, we have another year that will end with a BCS shake up. LSU is #1 and undefeated, but Alabama, and Arkansas each have one loss. Arkansas plays LSU this weekend, and Alabama plays Auburn. There are seemingly infinite possibilities for what will happen with the BCS so I will wait until next week to comment on that.

In the ACC, Virginia won at Florida State for the first time ever in one of the craziest endings I've seen at a college football game in a long time.

In Games I Care About I was 7-1. In Big Games I was 1-2, which put me at 8-3 for the weekend. My overall record now stands at 84-32.

College Football Week 12 Picks

There are two top 20 teams in action tonight, Virginia Tech and Southern Miss, so the picks are coming a day early. On Saturday, Nebraska visits Michigan, in a top 20 match-up and a key game in the Big 10 Legends Division. Nebraska and Michigan are tied for second place (4-2) behind Michigan State (5-1), who hosts IU this weekend.

Games I Care About:
North Carolina @ #8 Virginia Tech > Virginia Tech
Kentucky @ #14 Georgia > Georgia
Samford @ #24 Auburn > Auburn
#7 Clemson @ NC State > Clemson
#21 Penn State @ Ohio State > Penn State
#1 LSU @ Ole Miss > LSU
Virginia @ #25 Florida State > Virginia
Colorado @ UCLA > UCLA

Big Games:
#16 Nebraska @ #18 Michigan > Michigan
#5 Oklahoma @ #22 Baylor > Oklahoma
#13 Kansas State @ #23 Texas > Texas

College Football Week 11 Review

Well, Oregon beat Stanford this week. I hate Oregon. I'm not 100% sure why; it probably has something to do with how ugly every single one of their seemingly infinite number of uniform combinations are. I really do not want to see them play for another national championship this year. That would be terrible.

Anyway, in Games I Care About, I was 4-4. While typing this, I just realized that I accidently picked Illinois to beat Michigan. Sometimes, I get in the habit of typing the home team's name a second time when making the picks. Oops. Just add that to the frustration of Oregon winning. In Big Games, I was 1-2, which brings the overall record to 5-6 for the weekend. My season record is now 76-32.

College Football Week 11 Picks

Just barely getting the picks in this week. But, I didn't have Internet access in my apartment until about 24 hours ago.

Games I Care About:
Wake Forest at #9 Clemson > Clemson
Florida at #19 South Carolina > South Carolina
Kentucky at Vanderbilt > Vanderbilt
#16 Texas at Missouri > Texas
Duke at Virginia > Virginia
#24 Michigan at Illinois > Illinois
UCLA at Utah > UCLA
Louisiana Tech at Ole Miss > Ole Miss

Big Games:
#19 Nebraska at #12 Penn State > Nebraska
#20 Auburn at #15 Georgia > Auburn
#7 Oregon at #4 Stanford > Stanford