College Basketball Overrated and Underrated - 23 Dec

These are the five most overrated and underrated teams in college basketball using this week's AP poll and my rankings as of today as measuring points. The team's previous ranking is in parentheses if applicable.

Overrated

1. Memphis (1)

2. Minnesota (2)

3. Missouri

4. Florida

5. Michigan State

This week's overrated rankings are brought to you by the letter M. Obviously, the voters still haven't noticed that Memphis and Minnesota aren't as good as advertised, but maybe Memphis' game with Georgetown today will change some minds.

Underrated

1. Arizona

2. Washington (3)

3. Saint Mary's

4. Louisville

5. Vanderbilt (5)

The Pac 10 hasn't been able to regain the respect it lost with last year's debacle of a season. Both Arizona and Washington are much better than believed, and Washington State is sitting right outside the top 5 at #7. With conference play starting soon, they may not get the chance to prove their strength until the NCAA Tournament, when I expect they will all be underseeded, which will make them prime upset material.

NBA Player of the Day

Carlos Boozer - CHI - 30 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast, 11-18 FG, 8-11 FT

Boozer led the Bulls in points, rebounds, and assists in their victory over the Washington Wizards on the road. He played the final 7 minutes with 5 fouls, and still managed to hit the layup that clinched the victory with 35 seconds left. The Bulls are 9-3 since he returned from a broken hand, and he's showing that he was worth the wait.

Predictions - 23 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Spurs at Magic - Spurs by 3

Bucks at Kings - Bucks by 6

Heat at Suns - Heat by 5

College Football

Navy at San Diego State - San Diego State by 7

NFL

Panthers at Steelers - Steelers by 23

College Basketball

Oakland at (2) Ohio State - Ohio State by 21

(9) Georgetown at (17) Memphis - Georgetown by 7

UMKC at (11) Kansas State - Kansas State by 27

Washington State vs. (15) Baylor - Washington State by 1

South Dakota State at (16) Minnesota - Minnesota by 9

Belmont at (18) Tennessee - Tennessee by 4

UTEP at (23) BYU - BYU by 18

Coppin State at Wisconsin - Wisconsin by 29

Saint Mary's at New Mexico State - Saint Mary's by 12

Baylor, Minnesota, and Tennessee should all be on upset alert today, and I wouldn't be surprised to see all 3 go down. Baylor seems the most likely to lose, but Tennessee has been losing to unranked teams constantly for weeks, so a loss to Belmont would be fitting. Minnesota needs a loss to prove to the voters that they are overrated (see above).

Prediction Results - 22 Dec

NBA: 7/9 (.778) 184/246 overall (.748)

College Football: 1/1 (1.000) 41/56 overall (.732)

College Basketball: 16/19 (.842) 142/170 overall (.835)

My formula has been perfect at predicting college football bowl games through fives games this year, but unfortunately I am not. I tried to use logic to say that Northern Illinois would lose their bowl game because they lost their coach, but I should have stuck with the numbers.