NBA Rankings - 31 Jan

Only one team in the entire league has a winning streak of at least five games right now, but there are two with losing streaks that have reached double figures. That has caused a little bit more shifting around in this week's rankings, and has widened the field of teams with real title hopes to 6. The team's name is followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. San Antonio (3-0) (40-7) -7.64 (2)

2. Miami (3-1) (33-14) -7.30 (1)

3. Boston (3-1) (36-11) -6.98 (4)

4. LA Lakers (1-2) (33-15) -5.81 (3)

5. Chicago (3-0) (33-14) -5.67 (6)

6. Orlando (2-2) (31-17) -5.50 (5)

7. New Orleans (2-2) (31-18) -3.89 (7)

8. Dallas (3-0) (31-15) -3.50 (9)

9. Denver (3-1) (28-19) -3.36 (8)

10. Oklahoma City (2-2) (30-17) -2.22 (11)

11. Atlanta (1-2) (30-18) -1.80 (10)

12. Memphis (3-1) (24-24) -1.53 (12)

13. New York (3-1) (25-22) -1.14 (16)

14. Houston (2-2) (22-27) -1.07 (15)

15. Portland (0-2) (25-22) -0.73 (13)

16. Philadelphia (3-1) (21-26) -0.65 (17)

17. Utah (1-3) (28-20) -0.31 (14)

18. Milwaukee (3-1) (19-26) -0.13 (18)

19. Phoenix (2-2) (22-24) 0.61 (19)

20. Indiana (1-2) (17-27) 0.93 (20)

21. LA Clippers (1-2) (18-28) 1.57 (21)

22. Golden State (1-3) (20-27) 2.15 (22)

23. Charlotte (3-1) (20-26) 3.36 (24)

24. Detroit (1-3) (17-31) 3.52 (23)

25. Minnesota (1-3) (11-36) 4.18 (27)

26. Sacramento (3-1) (12-33) 4.61 (29)

27. Toronto (0-4) (13-35) 5.14 (25)

28. New Jersey (2-2) (14-34) 5.47 (26)

29. Washington (0-4) (13-33) 5.66 (28)

30. Cleveland (0-4) (8-39) 9.80 (30)

All-Stars

The Sacramento Kings have won 3 of 4 for the first time since the season's opening weekend, and all three of those wins came against teams that are currently in playoff position in the West, including games at Portland and Los Angeles. 9 of their next 10 games are against likely playoff teams, so it's a very good time to be getting hot.

The San Antonio Spurs came back out of the cold this week with three straight wins, making that 11 wins in their past 12 games. They are now the 7th team in history to reach 40 wins with 7 or fewer losses, and five of those teams won the championship. The Spurs are now embarking on their 9-game rodeo road trip, mostly against weak Eastern Conference teams, so they should be looking very good at the All-Star break.

The Chicago Bulls own the league's longest current winning streak, 5 games, and the last two games were very impressive. First, they overcame Dwight Howard's 40 points and beat the Magic by 9, then they blew out the Indiana Pacers by 21. They will be on the road for the next two weeks, facing mostly the weaker members of the Western Conference.

Benchwarmers

The Utah Jazz ended their 6-game losing streak this week with a win over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves, but the bleeding still hasn't stopped. Their road problems continued with a loss to Golden State last night, and they are now clinging to the 7th seed in the West.

The New Orleans Hornets, the league's hottest team just a week ago, saw their 10-game winning streak end in stunning fashion in Sacramento, then lost again the next night in Phoenix. It seems strange that a team can go from blowing out the Spurs to losing in Sacramento in the space of just 7 days.

The Portland Trail Blazers were one of just 4 teams to finish the week winless, and the only one of those with any playoff aspirations. The biggest reason they are included in this group is that they lost a home game to Sacramento by 15 points, something no other team has managed to do this year.

NBA Player of the Day

Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 33 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 11-19 FG, 11-12 FT

Amare had another monster game at home last night as the Knicks pulled away from the Detroit Pistons with a huge 4th quarter. Despite playing on a sprained knee, Stoudemire scored 26 points in the second half and New York solidified its hold on the 6th spot in the East.

Predictions - 31 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Raptors at Pacers - Pacers by 7

Nuggets at Nets - Nuggets by 6

Cavaliers at Heat - Heat by 20

Magic at Grizzlies - Magic by 1

Wizards at Mavericks - Mavs by 12

Bobcats at Jazz - Jazz by 7

Bucks at Clippers - Clippers by 2

College Basketball

(8) Texas at (11) Texas A&M - Texas by 2

(19) Louisville at (20) Georgetown - Georgetown by 7

Prediction Results - 30 Jan

NBA: 3/7 (.429) 377/523 overall (.721)

College Basketball: 2/4 (.500) 347/429 overall (.809)

Upsets: 0/1 (.000) 92/149 overall (.617)

Predictions - 30 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Heat at Thunder - Heat by 2
Celtics at Lakers - Lakers by 3
Cavaliers at Magic - Magic by 18
Nuggets at 76ers - Nuggets by 1
Pistons at Knicks - Knicks by 6
Jazz at Warriors - Jazz by 1

College Basketball

(3) Duke at Saint John's - Duke by 9
(17) Washington at Washington State - Washington by 3
Stetson at Belmont - Belmont by 31
Maryland at Georgia Tech - Maryland by 4

Prediction Results - 29 Jan

NBA: 7/8 (.875) 374/516 overall (.725)
College Basketball: 12/20 (.600) 345/425 overall (.812)
Upsets: 4/4 (1.000) 92/148 overall (.622)

NBA Player of the Day

Zach Randolph - MEM - 24 pts, 20 reb, 3 ast, 10-21 FG, 4-4 FT
Randolph was the biggest reason (in every way) that Memphis was able to hold off the Wizards last night and reach .500 for the first time since they were 4-4 early in the season. The loss means that Washington has still failed to win a single road game all season (0-23), and their next two are in Dallas and New Orleans, but after that a visit to Cleveland is looming, and where better to end a losing streak than against a team on a 20-game losing streak.

Predictions - 29 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Pacers at Bulls - Bulls by 8

Raptors at Timberwolves - Wolves by 3

Wizards at Grizzlies - Grizz by 10

Hawks at Mavericks - Mavs by 4

Nets at Bucks - Bucks by 9

Rockets at Spurs - Spurs by 9

Hornets at Kings - Hornets by 6

Bobcats at Clippers - Clippers by 3

College Basketball

(1) Ohio State at Northwestern - Ohio State by 8

(2) Pittsburgh at Rutgers - Pitt by 8

Wyoming at (4) San Diego State - San Diego State by 26

(19) Louisville at (5) Connecticut - UConn by 6

Kansas State at (6) Kansas - Kansas by 16

(20) Georgetown at (7) Villanova - Nova by 3

(13) Missouri at (8) Texas - Texas by 10

(9) BYU at New Mexico - BYU by 4

(10) Syracuse at Marquette - Marquette by 6

(11) Texas A&M at Nebraska - Nebraska by 3

(18) Minnesota at (12) Purdue - Purdue by 12

(15) Wisconsin at Penn State - Wisconsin by 6

Georgia at (16) Kentucky - Kentucky by 18

Arkansas at (22) Vanderbilt - Vandy by 18

(23) Florida at Mississippi State - Florida by 10

(24) Saint Mary's at Portland - Saint Mary's by 6

(25) Utah State at Hawaii - Utah State by 8

North Carolina State at North Carolina - North Carolina by 15

USC at Arizona - Arizona by 12

West Virginia at Cincinnati - Cincinnati by 5

Prediction Results - 28 Jan

NBA: 8/12 (.667) 367/508 overall (.722)

College Basketball: 1/1 (1.000) 333/405 overall (.822)

Upsets: 0/2 (.000) 88/144 overall (.611)

NBA Player of the Day

Russell Westbrook - OKC - 35 pts, 13 reb, 13 ast, 2 blk, 12-24 FG, 11-16 FT

On a day when two other MVP candidates (Howard and Durant) scored 40 points, and two others (Kobe and LeBron) scored 39 and 38, Westbrook's triple-double trumps them all. Westbrook became the 3rd player in the past 25 years to have at least 35-13-13 in one game, and the other two (LeBron twice and Kidd once) both lost their games.

NBA MVP Rankings - 28 Jan

There wasn't much movement in the rankings this week, and it seems that it will take a major slump by either a player or an entire team to make much change happen. Derrick Rose is the player making the biggest push right now, and if the Heat continue to struggle, he just may take the award away from LeBron and D-Wade. Here are the current leaders, with previous rankings following each player's stats.

Most Valuable Player

1. LeBron James - MIA - 25.8 pts, 7.3 reb, 7.1 ast (1)

The reigning MVP went off for 38 points and 11 rebounds against the Toronto Raptors this week, but struggled in last night's loss in New York, managing only 24 points on 7 of 24 shooting. Miami has dropped 5 of 6, and his lead in the MVP discussion has shrunk considerably.

2. Dwyane Wade - MIA - 25.3 pts, 6.7 reb, 4.2 ast (2)

Wade missed Miami's only win in the past two weeks with migraines, but was the best player on the court last night in Miami's loss at New York. He scored 34 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, handed out 5 assists, and hit 13 consecutive shots at one point, but didn't get enough help from his teammates as the Heat lost again.

3. Derrick Rose - CHI - 24.6 pts, 4.6 reb, 8.1 ast (3)

Rose has been playing with stomach ulcers for a while, and though you can see a slight drop in his production, if he's still capable of putting up 24 points and 9 assists while playing in pain, just imagine where he'll be when he's fully healthy.

4. Pau Gasol - LAL - 18.6 pts, 10.5 reb, 3.9 ast (4)

Gasol was his normal solid self again this week in the Lakers' two wins over potential playoff foes Utah and Denver. He averaged 19.5 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 63% from the field in the two victories, but he isn't putting up the monster numbers he did early in the season.

5. Kobe Bryant - LAL - 24.9 pts, 5.0 reb, 4.8 ast (6)

Kobe failed to reach 20 points in the Lakers' win at Denver this week, and has now admitted that he has not practiced with the team all year due to knee problems, but the Lakers keep winning, and even when Kobe's not at his best, he's better than most players in the league.

6. Kevin Durant - OKC - 28.6 pts, 6.7 reb, 2.9 ast (5)

Durant was incredible in Oklahoma City's overtime win against Minnesota two nights ago, tying the league's season-high in points scored with 47 while hauling in 18 rebounds along the way, but the Thunder's loss to New Orleans two nights earlier cost the scoring leader a chance to move into 4th place in the MVP race.

7. Russell Westbrook - OKC - 22.4 pts, 5.0 reb, 8.4 ast (7)

Westbrook scored 28 against New York a week ago, but was largely ineffective in the Thunder's past two games, one of which ended up as a loss in New Orleans. His shooting average, although not usually that great, was below 41% in those two games, and the Thunder need their second star if they want to make a deep playoff run.

8. Dwight Howard - ORL - 22.0 pts, 13.4 reb, 2.2 blk (8)

The Magic did lose at home to Detroit this week, but Howard was a monster all week, putting up at least 19 points and 14 rebounds in each game, including his amazing 31-point, 19-rebound performance in 30 minutes against Toronto that earned him the Player of the Day distinction.

9. Dirk Nowitzki - DAL - 23.1 pts, 6.9 reb, 2.4 ast (10)

The Mavericks have begun winning again, but Dirk still doesn't look like he's back where he was before the injury. His shooting percentage, which was on pace to shatter his previous career high when he went down, has been steadily dropping since his return, especially given this week's 36% overall average.

10. Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 26.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.2 blk (9)

Amare was held to just 18 points in consecutive losses at San Antonio and Oklahoma City, but responded well when the team returned to Madison Square Garden, putting up 30 and 24 in two straight wins over the visiting Wizards and Heat. Amare has the Knicks back in the playoff hunt much sooner than anyone expected.

Rookie of the Year

1. Blake Griffin - LAC - 22.6 pts, 12.8 reb, 3.5 ast (1)

Griffin claimed that his elbow wasn't bothering him before the Clippers' game at Houston two nights ago, but after he put up only 14 points and the game wasn't even close, you have to wonder if he's really healthy.

2. John Wall - WAS - 15.1 pts, 4.0 reb, 9.3 ast (2)

Wall seems like a player who either scores or hands out a lot of assists in each game, but never both at the same time. His two double-digit assist games this week were also his lowest scoring, and vice versa.

3. Landry Fields - NYK - 10.0 pts, 7.2 reb, 1.9 ast (3)

Fields was having a pretty down week until last night against the Miami Heat, where he picked up every aspect of his game, getting 19 points, 13 rebounds, and a career-high 6 assists in the Knicks' come-from-behind victory over the favored Heat.

4. DeMarcus Cousins - SAC - 12.9 pts, 7.6 reb, 1.7 ast (4)

Cousins' week started off very well against Golden State (21 points), but he had a severe dropoff after that game, scoring only 9 in the Kings' loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. It seems that he goes from 20-point games to single-digit outputs regularly, which is the definition of inconsistent.

5. Evan Turner - PHI - 7.3 pts, 4.5 reb, 1.9 ast (5)

Turner has now put up double-digits in back-to-back games for only the fifth time this season in wins over Phoenix and Toronto, but he has yet to do it in 3 straight. Maybe a visit from Memphis tonight will be what he needs to turn the corner.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Jamal Crawford - ATL - 16.2 pts, 1.9 reb, 3.5 ast (1)

Crawford hit 20 points in Atlanta's loss to Milwaukee last night, the first time he'd done that since his 6-game streak of 20-point games ended on the 12th of this month. That streak also coincided with Atlanta's most recent 5-game winning streak.

2. Jason Terry - DAL - 15.6 pts, 2.0 reb, 4.2 ast (2)

Terry was great in Dallas' win against the Clippers this week, scoring 28 points on 11 of 22 shooting, way above his season average of 43.5%, and leading the Mavericks to the win while Dirk is working his way back into shape.

3. Thaddeus Young - PHI - 11.8 pts, 5.0 reb, 1.1 ast (NR)

Young's 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists against Phoenix on Monday thrust him into the rankings after several weeks sitting just outside the top 5 looking in. He may not be as consistent as the two ahead of him on the list, but they've also been doing this a lot longer.

4. J.R. Smith - DEN - 11.5 pts, 4.0 reb, 2.1 ast (3)

Smith missed Denver's game against Washington because he was late to the team shootaround, and wasn't much better in the 3 games he did play. His high for the week was 8 points, and he shot 0 for 5 from 3-point range, which is usually his specialty.

5. Shawn Marion - DAL - 11.4 pts, 6.4 reb, 1.0 ast (4)

Marion recorded a bare-minimum double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Clippers on Tuesday, but when you've only got 5 all year, you take what you can get.

Most Improved Player

1. Dorell Wright - GSW - +9.5 pts, +2.5 reb, +1.8 ast (1)

The Warriors may not be winning very often, but Wright has been producing in every category lately, scoring 25 against New Orleans, grabbing 12 rebounds against Sacramento, and handing out 9 assists against San Antonio this week.

2. D.J. Augustin - CHA - +8.5 pts, +1.7 reb, +3.9 ast (2)

Augustin has now scored in double-figures in 13 of his last 14 games, and the Bobcats have won 4 of their last 5 games, including two road wins this week in Phoenix and Sacramento.

3. Nick Young - WAS - +8.3 pts, +1.3 reb, +0.7 ast (4)

Something strange pops out when you look at Young's stats in the past 5 games. When he has scored over 20 points, the Wizards have lost, but in the game that he only managed 6 points on 1 of 13 shooting, the Wizards upset Boston. Not quite sure what this says about him, but hopefully it's just a strange coincidence.

4. Kevin Love - MIN - +7.6 pts, +3.5 reb, +0.3 ast (3)

Minnesota just can't seem to get a win lately, but Love is most definitely not the reason, especially after his 31 points and 21 rebounds against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, the third time this season he's hit 30 and 20 in the same game.

5. Eric Gordon - LAC - +7.2 pts, +0.6 reb, +1.5 ast (5)

Gordon sprained his right wrist against Golden State last week and is expected to miss about a month in recovery. The Clippers will definitely miss their scoring leader, especially since they were looking like they could make a push for the playoffs.

NBA Player of the Day

Landry Fields - NYK - 19 pts, 13 reb, 6 ast, 6-11 FG, 3-6 3P, 4-4 FT

Fields, a shooting guard, led the Knicks in rebounding last night and hit an important 3-pointer during the Knicks' wild comeback victory over the Miami Heat last night. It was a great game from the rookie, and definitely his best in quite a while.

Predictions - 28 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Nets at Pacers - Pacers by 6

Grizzlies at 76ers - 76ers by 2

Bucks at Raptors - Bucks by 2

Knicks at Hawks - Hawks by 4

Nuggets at Cavaliers - Nuggets by 11

Pistons at Heat - Heat by 14

Magic at Bulls - Bulls by 2

Wizards at Thunder - Thunder by 11

Timberwolves at Jazz - Jazz by 8

Bobcats at Warriors - Warriors by 3

Kings at Lakers - Lakers by 16

Celtics at Suns - Celtics by 6

College Basketball

Florida-Gulf Coast at Belmont - Belmont by 31

Prediction Results - 27 Jan

NBA: 2/3 (.667) 359/496 overall (.724)

College Basketball: 4/6 (.667) 332/404 overall (.822)

Upsets: 0/1 (.000) 88/142 overall (.620)

College Basketball Conference Predictions - MWC, Horizon, WCC

I've decided to expand my predictions beyond the power conferences and predict the final standings of the mid-majors also. I start today with the 3 that have had the most success in the past decade, and will finish up with a few others on Saturday. Current standing is in parentheses after predicted final record.

Mountain West

1. BYU (14-2) (28-3) (1)

2. San Diego State (13-3) (28-3) (2)

3. UNLV (10-6) (22-8) (4)

4. Colorado State (8-8) (18-12) (3)

5. New Mexico (7-9) (19-12) (6)

6. Utah (7-9) (14-16) (5)

7. Air Force (6-10) (15-14) (7)

8. TCU (4-12) (13-18) (9)

9. Wyoming (3-13) (10-20) (8)

BYU's big win over the Aztecs last night gave them an advantage in the conference race, but it won't be decided until they face off again right before the end of the season, this time in San Diego. Besides that game, the Cougars still must face UNLV once and New Mexico twice, so the meat of the conference schedule is still coming. UNLV seems like the only team locked into its spot, as they are not in the same class as the top 2, but they are definitely better than any other team in the conference. The conference will most likely have 3 tournament teams, and two are already locked in. If UNLV falters, Colorado State and New Mexico look like they could get in, but only with a winning conference record.

Horizon

1. Cleveland State (14-4) (25-5) (1)

2. Valparaiso (13-5) (21-9) (2)

3. Butler (12-6) (20-10) (3)

4. Wright State (11-7) (18-12) (4)

5. Detroit (9-9) (15-15) (5)

5. Green Bay (9-9) (15-15) (5)

7. Milwaukee (9-9) (14-15) (7)

8. Loyola-IL (7-11) (16-13) (8)

9. Youngstown State (3-15) (9-19) (9)

10. Illinois-Chicago (3-15) (8-22) (10)

There won't be a runaway in this conference like Butler was last year, but Cleveland State has the clear path to the conference title because they face the other two challengers at home, while Butler must face both on the road. The Horizon League will probably send two teams to the tournament, so Valparaiso is looking like the odd team out right now, but they could just as easily win the conference tournament, which would leave the committee with a tough decision between the Vikings and Bulldogs, because I don't think that 3 teams will get out of this conference.

West Coast Conference

1. Saint Mary's (12-2) (24-5) (1)

2. Gonzaga (9-5) (21-10) (3)

3. San Francisco (9-5) (15-14) (2)

4. Portland (7-7) (20-10) (5)

5. Santa Clara (7-7) (16-14) (4)

6. Loyola Marymount (5-9) (13-16) (7)

7. Pepperdine (5-9) (11-20) (6)

8. San Diego (2-12) (6-23) (8)

Saint Mary's looks like the definite winner of the regular season championship, but with Gonzaga always dangerous, nothing is certain in the conference tournament. Both teams should make it to the NCAA's, just like last year, but no one else looks strong enough to join them, not even the San Francisco team that upset Gonzaga earlier in the week. The most important thing the rest of the way for Saint Mary's is to beat Gonzaga by enough to impress the committee and the computers, because if they end up below the 6 seed they will have a very tough road to the Sweet 16.

NBA Player of the Day

Kevin Durant - OKC - 47 pts, 18 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk, 15-28 FG, 4-8 3P, 13-14 FT

In last night's matchup of the Western Conference's two premier forwards, Kevin Durant more than held his own against the much bigger Kevin Love. Love, the league's leading rebounder, grabbed 3 more boards than Durant, but Durant, the league's leading scorer, put in 16 more points than the other Kevin. His 47 points tied Blake Griffin for the highest output of the season, and his 16 straight points in the 4th quarter allowed the Thunder to keep even with the Wolves and win it in overtime.

Predictions - 27 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Heat at Knicks - Heat by 4

Rockets at Mavericks - Mavs by 5

Celtics at Trail Blazers - Celts by 3

College Basketball

Boston College at (3) Duke - Duke by 20

(21) Illinois at Indiana - Illinois by 2

(22) Vanderbilt at Mississippi State - Vandy by 16

(24) Saint Mary's at Gonzaga - Gonzaga by 1

(25) Utah State at San Jose State - Utah State by 5

UCLA at Arizona - Arizona by 15

Prediction Results - 26 Jan

NBA: 8/10 (.800) 357/493 overall (.724)

College Basketball: 6/7 (.857) 328/398 overall (.824)

Upsets: 2/2 (1.000) 88/141 overall (.624)

My prediction percentages have aligned today, with gaps of exactly 10% between each one.

College Basketball Rankings - 26 Jan

We're down to two undefeated teams, and only 3 teams have one loss. The Big East was full of upsets this week, and as a result they lost a few ranked teams. Ohio State remained undefeated, the only team from a major conference remaining, and it finally paid off with the #1 ranking becoming theirs for the first time in a month. Here are this week's rankings, with team name followed by weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Ohio State (3-0) (21-0) -23.90 (4)
2. Duke (2-0) (18-1) -23.34 (2)
3. Kansas (1-1) (19-1) -21.64 (1)
4. Washington (2-0) (15-4) -20.27 (3)
5. Texas (2-0) (16-3) -19.75 (13)
6. Kentucky (1-0) (15-4) -19.73 (6)
7. BYU (1-0) (19-1) -19.25 (9)
8. Wisconsin (2-0) (15-4) -18.78 (14)
9. Pittsburgh (1-1) (19-2) -18.20 (7)
10. Purdue (2-1) (17-4) -17.38 (5)
11. Vanderbilt (2-0) (14-4) -16.88 (17)
12. San Diego State (1-0) (20-0) -16.73 (11)
13. Villanova (1-0) (17-2) -16.10 (23)
14. Connecticut (2-0) (17-2) -15.82 (NR)
15. Illinois (0-1) (14-6) -15.72 (16)
16. Arizona (1-1) (16-4) -15.70 (21)
17. Georgetown (0-0) (14-5) -15.51 (20)
18. Missouri (1-0) (17-3) -15.46 (25)
19. Saint Mary's (1-1) (17-3) -15.40 (8)
20. Belmont (2-1) (18-4) -15.38 (10)
21. Louisville (1-1) (15-4) -15.07 (22)
22. North Carolina (0-0) (13-5) -14.35 (NR)
23. Notre Dame (3-0) (17-4) -14.27 (NR)
24. Maryland (1-1) (12-7) -13.46 (18)
25. UNLV (2-1) (16-5) -13.29 (15)

Dropping out

Marquette (0-2) (13-8) -13.19 (24)
West Virginia (1-1) (13-5) -13.08 (19)
Syracuse (0-2) (18-3) -12.61 (12)

Ranked teams by conference

Big East: 6
Big 10: 4
ACC: 3
Big 12: 3
MWC: 3
Pac 10: 2
SEC: 2
WCC: 1
Atl Sun: 1

Three Big East teams dropped out this week, but they were replaced by 2 Big East teams and an ACC team, so the Big East still remains the best conference, but with different contenders.

Hot

UConn has finally earned my respect, jumping clear up to #14 in my rankings after beating Marquette on the road last night in a game I had picked them to lose. I now have the Huskies ranked at #3 in the Big East, behind only Pitt and Villanova.

Villanova shook off a loss to UConn last week with a huge upset win at Syracuse, a win that sent Syracuse plunging and eventually out of the top 25. A difficult road win, especially in a tough conference, is a sure sign of a good team.

I may be starting to sound like a broken record here, but Notre Dame also proved themselves this week with a tough road win at Pitt on Monday. For some reason, the home court advantage seemed to be working in reverse this week in the Big East.

The Texas Longhorns went from thrashing their in-state rival Aggies last week to knocking off the previously undefeated Kansas Jayhawks this week, beating a top 10 team by double-digits for the second straight game. The upset over Kansas ended their home winning streak at 69 games, a streak that had started years ago.

Missouri beat a very good Iowa State team this week by a score of 87-54, not the type of score you'd expect between 2 good teams. Missouri faces off with fellow Big 12 hot team Texas on Saturday in a game that will be very important to the conference standings and tournament seeding.

Not

It's hard to believe that Syracuse was undefeated just 10 days ago, now that they have lost three in a row. The first two, against top 10 teams Pitt and Villanova, were forgiveable, but losing at home by 22 points to Big East doormat Seton Hall proves that there is something much bigger wrong with the Orange.

Saint Mary's started the week by overlooking San Diego and having to hold on for a victory, then went to Nashville and got blown out by Vanderbilt. Tomorrow they get to face off with perennial conference favorite Gonzaga, so they picked the absolute worst time to go cold.

Belmont has fallen from good graces this week by playing far beneath their potential twice, first in a 5-point win over a terrible USC-Upstate team, then losing last night at Lipscomb, a team that shouldn't have had much of a chance against the Bruins. Hopefully they can turn it around before March.

After UNLV lost to Colorado State last week, they seemed to lose their fight. They escaped with narrow victories over New Mexico and Wyoming this week, two average teams with very slim NCAA Tournament hopes, not the resume they'll need coming from the Mountain West.

West Virginia lost to in-state rival Marshall this week, a team that always seems to be their Achilles' heel, then announced that leading scorer Casey Mitchell has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. They may have permanently punched their ticket out of the top 25.

NBA Player of the Day

None. There was no NBA player who played at a star level last night in any of the 5 games, and I don't want to water down the award, so it will go down as vacant for today.

Predictions - 26 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Magic at Pacers - Magic by 3
Grizzlies at Nets - Grizz by 4
76ers at Raptors - 76ers by 2
Nuggets at Pistons - Nuggets by 4
Hawks at Bucks - Bucks by 1
Thunder at Timberwolves - Thunder by 5
Clippers at Rockets - Rockets by 6
Bobcats at Suns - Suns by 5
Spurs at Jazz - Spurs by 4
Hornets at Warriors - Hornets by 4

College Basketball

(4) San Diego State at (9) BYU - BYU by 8
(7) Villanova at Providence - Nova by 5
(8) Texas at Oklahoma State - Texas by 8
Northwestern at (18) Minnesota - Minnesota by 7
West Virginia at (19) Louisville - Louisville by 8
Saint John's at (20) Georgetown - Georgetown by 12
North Carolina at Miami - North Carolina by 1

Prediction Results - 25 Jan

NBA: 4/5 (.800) 349/483 overall (.720)
College Basketball: 2/6 (.333) 322/391 overall (.824)
Upsets: 0/3 (.000) 86/139 overall (.619)

College Basketball Overrated and Underrated - 25 Jan

Two Big East teams left my overrated rankings this week, but not in the way I would have hoped. Villanova pulled off a huge upset in Syracuse, shedding the overrated tag along the way. Notre Dame must have taken notice, because they did the same thing last night in Pittsburgh, knocking off conference-leading Pitt on the road to prove that they belong. Two teams also left my underrated rankings, and one of those did go the right way. With Vanderbilt's upset of Saint Mary's this week, the Commodores were allowed back into the top 25, which is where they belong. UNLV, however, did not fare as well, losing by 15 at home to Colorado State, one of the average teams in the MWC. With that said, there are 4 new spots to fill in the overrated and underrated rankings, so here they are.

Overrated

1. Minnesota (1)

2. Texas A&M (2)

3. Connecticut (5)

4. Florida State

5. Syracuse

Minnesota was allowed back into the top 25 after their huge upset of Purdue two weeks ago. The problem is, it appears that the Boilermakers just had an off night. My prediction is that Purdue will avenge that loss on Saturday when the Golden Gophers come to visit them, and hopefully Minnesota will drop back out of the top 25 and back to bubble-world, where they belong.

Did nobody see the Texas-Texas A&M game last week? The Aggies were beaten in every way, never held the lead once, and never got within 18 points in the final 15 minutes of the game. Remember, this was a matchup of #10 vs. #11. Sure, the Longhorns are good, which they proved against Kansas, but the Aggies should have dropped more than one spot for that performance. After they lose to Nebraska on Saturday and Texas again on Monday, they're sure to end up closer to where they belong.

The Big East is so evenly matched this year that it scares me to put any of their teams in here, but UConn is not a top 5 team. They belong somewhere in the middle of the pack, toward the bottom of the top 25. They'll lose at Marquette tonight, but unless Louisville can beat them on the road, the Huskies will probably still remain in the top 10 of both polls.

Florida State is ranked because they beat Duke, the best team in the ACC, but they also lost to Auburn, the worst team in the SEC, so logically, they are more of an average team that is good enough to beat good teams but can still lose to bad ones. This week, they'll lose to an average team when they meet Clemson on the road.

The Syracuse Orange will follow up their back-to-back losses with a win tonight against Seton Hall, but it won't be the start of a new winning streak. The Orange have to travel to Marquette to take on a very dangerous Golden Eagle team, and I predict that they will enter February having lost 3 of their last 4.

Underrated

1. Belmont (1)

2. North Carolina

3. Marquette

4. Maryland (2)

5. Washington (3)

My crusade to get Belmont ranked has taken another step in the right direction, as they have now earned a vote in each poll. They did have a scare this week against USC-Upstate, but they should prove that they have righted the ship with 3 more conference wins this week.

North Carolina is a marginally-ranked team at best, but they don't have a single vote in this week's AP poll, which is why they're here. They did themselves no favors by losing to Georgia Tech last week, but if they beat Miami on the road tomorrow, we'll have a little better idea of how good this team really is.

Marquette's upset of Notre Dame a couple weeks ago may have only been the tip of the iceberg. If you read my overrated rankings closely, you may have noticed that I have two of those teams losing road games this week to a certain Big East team that no voter has noticed yet. If the Golden Eagles pull them both off, they are sure to make a move toward the top 25.

Maryland took a huge drop in my rankings this week after they were blown out at home by Virginia Tech, and they have yet to beat a team that is ranked, but there is something about this team that still has me believing. They should be able to pick up two wins this week, which will hopefully help them build momentum to their rematch with Duke on Groundhog Day.

Washington moved down a couple spots in the underrated rankings this week, but their move is a good one. After they beat Arizona and Arizona State by double-digits this week, they were rewarded by moving up to #18 in the polls. While I still believe they should be higher, at least they are headed in the right direction. They face another tough test this week at rival Washington State, but a win there should keep them climbing.

NBA Player of the Day

Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 30 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 13-23 FG, 4-7 FT

Stoudemire shook off his two worst games of the season with a big night against the Wizards in a game that kept Washington winless on the road and ended New York's 6-game losing streak just in time for Miami to come to town. The win may have been enough to keep Amare in the MVP race, but a win over Miami would guarantee it.

Predictions - 25 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Nuggets at Wizards - Nuggets by 6

Cavaliers at Celtics - Celts by 19

Clippers at Mavericks - Mavs by 8

Bobcats at Kings - Kings by 2

Jazz at Lakers - Lakers by 8

College Basketball

(12) Purdue at (1) Ohio State - Ohio State by 10

(5) Connecticut at Marquette - Marquette by 5

(6) Kansas at Colorado - Kansas by 7

Seton Hall at (10) Syracuse - Syracuse by 16

(23) Florida at Georgia - Georgia by 2

Belmont at Lipscomb - Belmont by 9

Prediction Results - 24 Jan

NBA: 8/10 (.800) 345/478 overall (.722)

College Basketball: 1/2 (.500) 320/385 overall (.831)

Upsets: 2/2 (1.000) 86/136 overall (.632)

NBA Rankings - 24 Jan

Before I go into this week's NBA rankings, I'd like to use the results of yesterday's games to provide an example of how each game affects the rankings. In the NFL, I picked Green Bay by 7 and Pittsburgh by 4 yesterday, and the actual results were 7 and 5. Because the results were nearly exactly as predicted, they made very little impact on the overall rankings. Any movement can be explained by changes in strength of schedule due to the results of the games, but even that was very minor. In the NBA, I picked Denver by 6, but they won by 14, so they got a little boost in the rankings. In college basketball, I picked Northwestern to upset Wisconsin by 3, but Wisconsin won the game by 32 points, a difference of 35 from the expected result, which resulted in large moves for both teams, but in opposite directions. The important thing to notice is that it's not the margin of victory that's important, it's how that margin compares to the predicted margin. If a team is picked to win by 34 and wins by 32, they would not get the boost that Wisconsin got, even with the same margin of victory.

Now, on to the NBA rankings. Miami has been struggling, but so has San Antonio. None of the top teams seem like they want to run away with it this season, which should make for a very interesting series of matchups in the playoffs. Here are the current rankings, with team name followed by weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Miami (1-1) (30-13) -7.67 (2)

2. San Antonio (2-1) (37-7) -6.73 (1)

3. LA Lakers (2-1) (32-13) -6.52 (4)

4. Boston (3-1) (33-10) -6.45 (3)

5. Orlando (3-1) (29-15) -6.13 (5)

6. Chicago (3-1) (30-14) -4.79 (6)

7. New Orleans (4-0) (29-16) -4.65 (9)

8. Denver (2-1) (25-18) -3.52 (7)

9. Dallas (2-2) (28-15) -3.13 (8)

10. Atlanta (3-1) (29-16) -2.36 (12)

11. Oklahoma City (1-2) (28-15) -2.29 (11)

12. Memphis (2-2) (21-23) -1.74 (13)

13. Portland (4-0) (25-20) -1.44 (14)

14. Utah (0-4) (27-17) -1.30 (10)

15. Houston (2-2) (20-25) -0.75 (15)

16. New York (0-4) (22-21) -0.54 (16)

17. Philadelphia (2-2) (18-25) -0.21 (18)

18. Milwaukee (2-2) (16-25) 0.49 (17)

19. Phoenix (3-1) (20-22) 0.87 (20)

20. Indiana (0-4) (16-25) 0.96 (19)

21. LA Clippers (3-1) (17-26) 1.96 (21)

22. Golden State (3-1) (19-24) 2.42 (22)

23. Detroit (2-2) (16-28) 3.67 (25)

24. Charlotte (2-2) (17-25) 3.94 (23)

25. Toronto (0-4) (13-31) 4.46 (24)

26. New Jersey (2-2) (12-32) 5.84 (28)

27. Minnesota (0-2) (10-33) 5.06 (26)

28. Washington (2-2) (13-29) 5.27 (27)

29. Sacramento (0-3) (9-32) 6.00 (29)

30. Cleveland (0-3) (8-35) 9.96 (30)

Smoking:

The New Orleans Hornets have now won 8 straight games, including the last two by a combined 65 points over the Hawks and Spurs, despite being expected to lose both of those games. The Hornets will be favored in each of their next 5 games, so a 13-game winning streak is not out of the question.

Since losing 8 of 9 in mid-December, the Magic have now won 13 of their past 16, and those 3 losses came by a combined 7 points against the Hornets, Thunder and Celtics, all on the road. This week's highlight was a 40-point win over Toronto, in which Dwight Howard was able to earn the Player of the Day award despite sitting out the 4th quarter.

Since the trade rumors ended, New Jersey has been playing its best basketball of the season. They beat Utah by 8 and then Detroit by 15 before taking Dallas down to the wire in a 1-point loss. It seems that the Nets' players try harder when they know they're not being traded away tomorrow.

Out Cold:

The Utah Jazz were supposed to struggle with the Boston Celtics on their current road trip, but no one expected them to lose to New Jersey, Washington, and Philadelphia in the same week. The road trip ends with a visit to the Lakers, but the losing streak may extend farther, with San Antonio making the trip to Salt Lake on Wednesday.

Speaking of the Spurs, they were looking good and riding an 8-game winning streak into New Orleans on Saturday when something strange happened: the entire team came down with a case of the sucks. The first-place Spurs were led in scoring by 11th man Tiago Splitter, who scored 11 in mostly garbage time, and looked more like a lottery team than a championship contender.

Milwaukee would not have been here if they had just taken care of Memphis on their home floor. The Bucks were the last team to reach 41 games this year, so they weren't tired, unless winning two straight for the first time since before Christmas took it out of them, so I'm forced to put them on the cold list until they figure out what happened.

NBA Player of the Day

Carmelo Anthony - DEN - 36 pts, 8 reb, 14-27 FG, 6-8 3P, 2-5 FT

With only one game played last night, Anthony was the obvious choice with his highest-scoring game since November. It looks like the Nets weren't the only ones who were able to relax a little when the trade rumors were put to rest, at least for now.

Predictions - 24 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Suns at 76ers - 76ers by 4

Cavaliers at Nets - Nets by 8

Pistons at Magic - Magic by 13

Grizzlies at Raptors - Grizzlies by 3

Wizards at Knicks - Knicks by 9

Thunder at Hornets - Hornets by 5

Bucks at Bulls - Bulls by 8

Rockets at Timberwolves - Rockets by 3

Kings at Trail Blazers - Blazers by 10

Spurs at Warriors - Spurs by 6

College Basketball

(16) Notre Dame at (4) Pittsburgh - Pitt by 13

Baylor at (24) Kansas State - Kansas State by 7

Prediction Results - 23 Jan

NFL: 2/2 (1.000) 77/122 overall (.631)

NBA: 1/1 (1.000) 337/468 overall (.720)

College Basketball: 1/2 (.500) 319/383 overall (.833)

Upsets: 1/2 (.500) 84/134 overall (.627)

Predictions - 23 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Pacers at Nuggets - Nuggets by 6

NFL

Packers at Bears - Packers by 7
Jets at Steelers - Steelers by 4

College Basketball

(17) Wisconsin at Northwestern - Northwestern by 3
Belmont at East Tennessee State - Belmont by 8

Prediction Results - 22 Jan

NBA: 9/13 (.692) 336/467 overall (.719)
College Basketball: 13/19 (.684) 318/381 overall (.835)
Upsets: 4/7 (.571) 83/132 overall (.629)

NBA Player of the Day

Blake Griffin - LAC - 30 pts, 18 reb, 8 ast, 10-16 FG, 1-1 3P, 9-10 FT
Griffin is the rare player who fills both the stat sheet and the highlight reel, and both were seen very clearly last night. Griffin had numerous awe-inspiring dunks throughout the night, but his biggest highlight was a 3-pointer, just his 6th of the season, that broke a tie in the final minute of the game to swing the victory to the Clippers. He also tied his career-high in rebounds and set a new one in assists.

College Basketball Conference Predictions - Big 10, Pac 10, Big East

As promised, here are my predictions for the final standings of the other 3 major conferences at the end of the regular season. These standings are all based on probability of winning each remaining game combined with the results of games that have already occurred. Current standing is in parentheses after the projected records for each team.

Big 10

1. Ohio State (14-3) (27-3) (1)

2. Purdue (12-5) (23-7) (2)

3. Illinois (11-7) (21-10) (4)

4. Michigan State (11-7) (19-11) (5)

5. Wisconsin (10-8) (20-10) (3)

6. Northwestern (9-9) (19-10) (7)

7. Minnesota (8-10) (19-11) (6)

8. Penn State (7-11) (14-15) (8)

9. Michigan (6-12) (16-15) (9)

10. Indiana (6-12) (15-16) (10)

11. Iowa (4-14) (11-19) (11)

Ohio State is facing its most difficult test of the season today in Illinois, then they follow it up with a visit from Purdue. They also must travel to Wisconsin to face the Badgers, any of which have real upset potential, but in the end, they are far enough ahead of the rest of the conference that they should win it. Purdue has the best chance to pass the Buckeyes, but they have to play each of the other top 5 conference teams on the road, so they will likely climb no higher than second. Illinois may be the hottest team in the conference right now, and after today they have no real tests until late February, so they may spend a while in second place, but it probably won't last. Northwestern and Penn State should be considered the bubble teams in the Big 10, but I doubt that both will get in, so the Big 10 will have 5 or 6 teams playing in March.

Pac 10

1. Washington (16-2) (25-5) (1)

2. Arizona (12-6) (23-8) (2)

3. Washington State (10-8) (20-10) (4)

4. UCLA (10-8) (19-12) (3)

5. USC (10-8) (18-13) (6)

6. Stanford (8-10) (16-14) (5)

7. California (8-10) (15-15) (8)

8. Oregon State (7-11) (12-17) (7)

9. Arizona State (5-13) (13-17) (9)

10. Oregon (4-14) (11-19) (10)

The Pac 10 plays the most balanced schedule of any of the major conferences, with every team facing every other both at home and on the road. Washington is the clear favorite here, and barring major injuries or suspensions, they will win the Pac 10 easily. Arizona is very likely to end up in second place, with no other real challengers in place. Washington State should make the tournament, and UCLA and USC have a slight chance of making the NCAA's, but no one else is in the running.

Big East

1. Pittsburgh (15-3) (27-4) (1)

2. Syracuse (13-5) (26-5) (2)

3. Louisville (12-6) (23-8) (4)

4. Villanova (11-7) (23-8) (3)

5. Marquette (11-7) (20-11) (6)

6. Cincinnati (10-8) (23-8) (10)

7. Connecticut (10-8) (22-8) (5)

8. Notre Dame (10-8) (21-9) (8)

8. Georgetown (10-8) (21-9) (11)

10. West Virginia (10-8) (19-11) (7)

11. Saint John's (9-9) (16-14) (9)

12. Rutgers (6-12) (15-15) (12)

13. Seton Hall (6-12) (12-18) (13)

14. Providence (5-13) (16-15) (15)

15. South Florida (4-14) (10-21) (14)

16. DePaul (2-16) (8-22) (16)

Pittsburgh looks like the most likely champion of the Big East, especially after beating Syracuse last week. Second place will come down to Syracuse, Villanova, and Louisville, and Marquette if they can pull another big upset. Early-season surprise Cincinnati has the easiest road of anyone the rest of the way, with UConn, Pitt, and Louisville once each on their schedule. Georgetown has also been the victim of a difficult schedule, but it doesn't get much easier, so they will finish in the middle of the pack. The Big East is a lock to have 9 tournament teams, and West Virginia will probably make it 10. If Saint John's can upset Duke next month, that should give them enough to put 11 in, but it will go no further than that, as the bottom 5 have no chance at all of a tournament run, except in the unlikely case that one of them wins the conference tournament.

NBA Player of the Day

Dwight Howard - ORL - 31 pts, 19 reb, 12-21 FG, 7-13 FT

If you think that Howard's line looks good, consider that he only played 30 minutes of Orlando's blowout of Toronto. If the game had been closer and Howard had stayed on the floor, a 40-20 game would not have been out of the question.

Predictions - 22 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Mavericks at Nets - Mavs by 5

Celtics at Wizards - Celtics by 11

Hawks at Bobcats - Hawks by 1

Suns at Pistons - Suns by 1

Raptors at Heat - Heat by 15

Jazz at 76ers - 76ers by 1

Spurs at Hornets - Spurs by 1

Cavaliers at Bulls - Bulls by 18

Knicks at Thunder - Thunder by 5

Magic at Rockets - Magic by 2

Grizzlies at Bucks - Bucks by 2

Pacers at Trail Blazers - Blazers by 5

Warriors at Clippers - Clippers by 3

College Basketball

(1) Ohio State at (22) Illinois - Ohio State by 1

(11) Texas at (2) Kansas - Kansas by 12

(7) Villanova at (3) Syracuse - Syracuse by 8

(4) Pittsburgh at DePaul - Pitt by 17

(5) Duke at Wake Forest - Duke by 25

Tennessee at (6) Connecticut - UConn by 10

(9) BYU at Colorado State - BYU by 4

(24) Kansas State at (10) Texas A&M - Texas A&M by 7

(12) Kentucky at South Carolina - Kentucky by 10

(18) Michigan State at (13) Purdue - Purdue by 10

Iowa State at (14) Missouri - Missouri by 8

(15) Louisville at Providence - Louisville by 6

Marquette at (16) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 5

(19) Minnesota at Michigan - Michigan by 4

Arizona State at (20) Washington - Washington by 26

(21) Saint Mary's at Vanderbilt - Vandy by 5

(25) Arizona at Washington State - Washington State by 2

Clemson at Maryland - Maryland by 11

Longwood at Virginia Tech - VTech by 37

Prediction Results - 21 Jan

NBA: 8/10 (.800) 327/454 overall (.720)

College Basketball: 1/1 (1.000) 305/362 overall (.843)

Upsets: 2/3 (.667) 79/125 overall (.632)

NBA MVP Rankings - 21 Jan

The Heat have been losing a bit more lately than usual, but so have most of the top teams in the league, including the Lakers, Magic, Celtics, Mavericks, and Bulls. The result is that LeBron gets to maintain his top spot despite his team's current 4-game slide and his missing two games with an injury. Here are the latest rankings, adjusted for this week's results. Player stats are followed by previous ranking.

Most Valuable Player

1. LeBron James - MIA - 25.6 pts, 7.1 reb, 7.2 ast (1)

Even though the Heat have lost four straight and LeBron missed two of those games with an ankle injury, his production didn't change when he was in the lineup. The only place that his games seemed to lag this week was in field goal percentage, where he shot 41% instead of the 48% he normally does.

2. Dwyane Wade - MIA - 25.1 pts, 6.5 reb, 4.2 ast (2)

Statistically speaking, Wade's only dud of the week was the 16 points he scored in Miami's embarrassing loss to Denver in the first game LeBron missed this week. He looked much better in the loss to Chicago, but it appears that Wade needs LeBron in order to be at his best.

3. Derrick Rose - CHI - 24.7 pts, 4.7 reb, 8.0 ast (6)

Rose surged back toward the front of the MVP pack this week after averaging nearly 29 points as he led the Bulls to a 4-1 record, including impressive wins over the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. His best game of the week may have been his lowest-scoring one, as he recorded a triple-double in Memphis to beat the Grizzlies in the same town where he played college ball.

4. Pau Gasol - LAL - 18.6 pts, 10.6 reb, 2.0 blk (3)

Gasol was relatively solid this week, but scoring only 13 points against the Clippers at the Staples Center may have been the difference between a win and a loss for the defending champions. Blake Griffin outplayed him in every way and showed who the best power forward in LA really is.

5. Kevin Durant - OKC - 28.2 pts, 6.2 reb, 2.9 ast (4)

The Thunder only played twice this week, and although Durant was perfect from the free throw line, that was the only positive that came out of this week. He shot 33% from the floor, was 1 for 11 from three-point range, and Oklahoma City lost both games.

6. Kobe Bryant - LAL - 25.1 pts, 5.1 reb, 4.7 ast (5)

It looks like Kobe's 39 points against Golden State were just a fluke, a result of playing a team with a hurry-up style of play. He failed to hit 30 points again this week, and the Lakers were only 2-2 in four games they should have won.

7. Russell Westbrook - OKC - 22.5 pts, 8.4 ast, 1.9 stl (7)

Westbrook was the reason that Oklahoma City was able to keep both of its games close this week, because Kevin Durant was not playing his best. Westbrook shot over 50%, averaged 30 points and 11 assists, and recorded his 5th straight triple-double in the two losses.

8. Dwight Howard - ORL - 21.9 pts, 13.1 reb, 2.2 blk (10)

Howard had a strange week. He averaged only 17 points in the Magic's two wins, but put up 33 in their loss to Boston. The most important thing is getting the win, and that's what Howard and the Magic have been doing much more consistently lately.

9. Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 26.4 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.3 blk (9)

Amare averaged over 30 points per game this week, including a season-high 41 against the Phoenix Suns, but the Knicks lost all 3 of them. He has now scored over 20 points in 26 straight games, the 3rd-longest streak in Knicks history.

10. Dirk Nowitzki - DAL - 23.4 pts, 7.2 reb, 2.5 ast (8)

Dirk returned from his injury this week, but it didn't make much of a difference for Dallas, who still lost 3 of 4 this week. He looked good while scoring 32 against Detroit, but wasn't much of a factor in the Mavericks' other games, including their upset of the Lakers.

Just outside:

Deron Williams, Al Horford, Carmelo Anthony

Rookie of the Year

1. Blake Griffin - LAC - 22.6 pts, 12.8 reb, 3.4 ast (1)

Griffin failed to record a double-double for the first time since November 18 in LA's win over Minnesota on Wednesday, but he has the Clippers looking like true contenders after beating Miami, the Lakers, and Denver already this month.

2. John Wall - WAS - 15.3 pts, 9.3 ast, 1.8 stl (2)

Wall only scored 8 points in Washington's win over Toronto last Saturday, but he followed that up with two straight double-doubles, including 19 points and 15 assists in a big upset over the visiting Utah Jazz. The Wizards have now won 4 straight home games despite failing to win a single road game so far this year.

3. Landry Fields - NYK - 10.1 pts, 7.4 reb, 1.8 ast (3)

Fields was his usual steady self this week, contributing his 10 points and 8 rebounds just like he does every night. It seems strange to think that 38 players were selected ahead of him last summer, because he's playing better than all but one of them.

4. DeMarcus Cousins - SAC - 12.8 pts, 7.7 reb, 1.7 ast (4)

Cousins had 3 very good games for the Kings this week before putting up an absolute dud against Portland on Wednesday, finishing with 5 points and 4 rebounds on 2-11 shooting in 25 minutes on the floor. He's got to be more consistent to stay around this league for long.

5. Evan Turner - PHI - 7.2 pts, 4.4 reb, 1.8 ast (NR)

Turner has been getting a lot more minutes lately, and its contributed to his increase in production, but he's not playing anywhere near the level a #2 pick should be at halfway through his first season.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Jamal Crawford - ATL - 16.2 pts, 1.9 reb, 3.6 ast (1)

Crawford had a very bad week until he scored 19 on Tuesday to help Atlanta upset the Miami Heat. He's only holding onto this spot because nobody else seems to want it, and those that do have moved on to become starters.

2. Jason Terry - DAL -15.4 pts, 2.0 reb, 4.4 ast (2)

For some reason Terry has been playing much better since Nowitzki returned from his injury. Maybe Terry is just more comfortable not having to be the first option on the team, and having a true superstar like Dirk there to take the attention allows Terry to thrive.

3. J.R. Smith - DEN - 11.8 pts, 4.1 reb, 2.2 ast (3)

After his 28-point explosion against Miami last week, Smith returned to his usual 12-point games this week, doing nothing to strengthen his case for this award, but also not weakening it.

4. Shawn Marion - DAL - 11.6 pts, 6.2 reb, 1.1 ast (4)

Marion scored only 10 points combined in Dallas' two losses this week, but he put up 22 in the Mavericks' big win over Dallas. It seems that the Matrix is still trying to find his niche on this team, while Terry seems to have found his long ago.

5. Glen Davis - BOS - 12.5 pts, 5.3 reb, 1.4 ast (5)

Big Baby scored in double-figures for the 10th straight game on Wednesday, a streak that started with the turning over of the calendar, and has easily been the most consistent player of this group all month.

Most Improved Player

1. Dorell Wright - GSW - +9.5 pts, +2.3 reb, +1.6 ast (1)

If Wright's increase in production is just a byproduct of playing for the Warriors, then why is he the only Golden State player to be in consideration for any award this season? The Warriors have now won 3 straight, and Wright is as big a reason for the surge as anybody.

2. D.J. Augustin - CHA - +8.3 pts, +1.8 reb, +3.9 ast (2)

Augustin had a pretty average week until he went nuts on the 76ers last night, scoring 31 points, 8 assists, and mailing in his application for Player of the Day. Augustin has been incredible lately, and he has the Bobcats looking like they could make a return trip to the playoffs.

3. Kevin Love - MIN - +7.3 pts, +4.5 reb, +0.2 ast (3)

Love has continued to put up double-doubles every single night while leading the entire league in rebounding while playing for a cellar-dwelling team. Love shouldn't be denied a spot on the All-Star team because his team isn't that good, because Love is the best power forward in the league today.

4. Nick Young - WAS - +8.0 pts, +1.2 reb, +0.6 ast (5)

Young may be Washington's best player now that Gilbert Arenas has left town, even with John Wall sharing the backcourt with him. He scored over 20 points in every game this week, and has the Wizards winning consistently at home.

5. Eric Gordon - LAC - +7.2 pts, +0.6 reb, +1.5 ast (NR)

Gordon, the Clippers' leading scorer (no, it's not Blake Griffin), has now scored over 20 points in 8 straight games, of which 6 were victories for Los Angeles. Just for reference, that's exactly how well the Lakers have fared over their past 8 games, which includes a win by the Clippers over the Lakers.

NBA Player of the Day

D.J. Augustin - CHA - 31 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast, 11-17 FG, 3-5 3P, 6-6 FT

Augustin did most of his damage in the first half, going 10 for 11 from the field as Charlotte pulled ahead of the favored 76ers, and then hit 4 free throws in the final 11 seconds to ice the game and finish off the visitors.

Predictions - 21 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Suns at Wizards - Suns by 2

Pistons at Nets - Nets by 1

Raptors at Magic - Magic by 11

Hornets at Hawks - Hawks by 3

Jazz at Celtics - Celtics by 8

Bucks at Cavaliers - Bucks by 8

Knicks at Spurs - Spurs by 10

Rockets at Grizzlies - Grizzlies by 2

Lakers at Nuggets - Nuggets by 1

Kings at Warriors - Warriors by 7

College Basketball

Belmont at USC-Upstate - Belmont by 21

Prediction Results - 20 Jan

NBA: 2/3 (.667) 319/444 overall (.718)

College Basketball: 2/3 (.667) 304/361 overall (.842)

Upsets: 0/1 (.000) 77/122 overall (.631)

College Basketball Conference Predictions - ACC, Big 12, SEC

I thought it would be fun to predict the final standings of each of the major college basketball conferences starting from today's standings, so today you're going to get the first 3. I calculated this by calculating their probability of winning each of their remaining games, then adding the probabilities together. For example, if one team is given a 75% chance of winning a game, they would get .75 of a win added to their total and the opponent would get .25. After going through each game I rounded off to the nearest whole number. Each team's name if followed by its projected conference and overall records, as well as its current standing in the conference. Current standings can be seen here.

ACC

1. Duke (13-3) (28-3) (1)

2. Florida State (11-5) (21-9) (2)

3. Maryland (10-6) (21-10) (8)

4. North Carolina (10-6) (20-10) (4)

5. Virginia Tech (9-7) (19-10) (6)

6. Boston College (9-7) (19-11) (2)

7. Clemson (8-8) (19-11) (5)

8. Miami (7-9) (19-12) (9)

9. North Carolina State (6-10) (16-14) (10)

10. Georgia Tech (6-10) (14-16) (7)

11. Virginia (5-11) (14-16) (11)

12. Wake Forest (2-14) (9-22) (12)

The two things that seem most sure in the ACC are that Duke will end up at the top and Wake Forest will end up in last place. Florida State looks like they'll end up in 2nd despite being the fifth best team in the conference, thanks to their upset win over Duke. Maryland is ranked low today because they had to play at Duke already, but their only difficult road games the rest of the way are against Virginia Tech and North Carolina. Boston College has the most difficult road schedule remaining of anyone in the conference, visiting Florida State, Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech. Wake Forest is lucky to be facing NC State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia at home, because otherwise they probably would not win a conference game. The biggest threats to Duke are road games at North Carolina and Maryland.

Big 12

1. Kansas (14-2) (29-2) (1)

2. Texas (12-4) (24-7) (2)

3. Texas A&M (10-6) (23-7) (3)

4. Missouri (9-7) (23-8) (5)

5. Nebraska (8-8) (20-10) (6)

5. Oklahoma State (8-8) (20-10) (6)

7. Baylor (8-8) (18-11) (8)

8. Colorado (8-8) (19-12) (4)

9. Iowa State (7-9) (20-11) (9)

10. Kansas State (6-10) (18-13) (10)

11. Oklahoma (4-12) (12-18) (11)

12. Texas Tech (2-14) (10-21) (12)

Kansas appears to be a pretty clear favorite to win the Big 12, with only a few potential bumps in the road when they visit Missouri, Kansas State, and Colorado. Texas also appears to have a clear hold on second place after their defeat of Texas A&M, probably only losing at Kansas, Texas A&M, and maybe Colorado. Nebraska and Oklahoma State are tied today and look like they'll end up that way at the end of the season too. Colorado has benefited from playing Missouri at home and no other top Big 12 teams so far, but they have to play at Kansas, Baylor, and Missouri, and they have a visit from the undefeated Jayhawks coming up also. Kansas State has already lost a couple of games they shouldn't have, and it looks like they probably won't be able to recover. Texas Tech should beat Oklahoma at home late in the year, and they'll probably pick up one more upset somewhere else before the season mercifully ends for them.

SEC

1. Kentucky (11-5) (23-7) (6)

2. Alabama (11-5) (19-11) (2)

3. Vanderbilt (10-6) (22-8) (8)

4. Georgia (9-7) (21-9) (7)

5. Florida (9-7) (20-10) (3)

6. Tennessee (9-7) (19-12) (10)

7. Arkansas (8-8) (19-11) (9)

8. South Carolina (8-8) (17-12) (1)

9. Mississippi (7-9) (19-12) (12)

10. Mississippi State (6-10) (14-16) (4)

11. LSU (6-10) (14-17) (5)

12. Auburn (2-14) (9-21) (11)

Kentucky has already lost road games to two of the best teams in the conference, which is why they are currently #6, and they will probably lose a few more, but they are the best team in the conference and will pull themselves back into first before it's all over. Alabama's upset over Kentucky established them as one of the best teams in the conference, and they also have the benefit of two games against in-state rival Auburn, the clear-cut conference loser. Vanderbilt should not have lost at Tennessee, but most of their remaining tough games will be at home, so they should be moving up. Georgia has also beaten Kentucky once this year, and the only games that look like definite losses for them the rest of the way are at Kentucky and Alabama. South Carolina is the ultimate pretender, playing all of their tough games at home so far. That is going to change soon, and the Gamecocks will fall over and over now that the schedule isn't going to be favoring them so much.

NBA Player of the Day

Monta Ellis - GSW - 36 pts, 5 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 16-28 FG, 2-3 3P, 2-3 FT

Ellis threw in 36 points for the Golden State Warriors last night, including the game-winner with less than a second left, as the Warriors upset Indiana and kept alive my streak of correctly picked upsets at 18. Although it's not likely, I think Monta should be chosen as an All-Star reserve, especially now that he's having his best year.

Predictions - 20 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

76ers at Bobcats - 76ers by 1

Mavericks at Bulls - Bulls by 4

Clippers at Trail Blazers - Blazers by 6

College Basketball

Indiana at (17) Wisconsin - Wisconsin by 12

(25) Arizona at (20) Washington - Washington by 12

Virginia Tech at Maryland - Maryland by 9

Prediction Results - 19 Jan

NBA: 11/13 (.846) 317/441 overall (.719)

College Basketball: 9/11 (.818) 302/358 overall (.844)

Upsets: 4/4 (1.000) 77/121 overall (.636)

College Basketball Rankings - 19 Jan

Duke finally lost a game this week, which left only 3 undefeated teams in the entire country. Losing did create an opening at #1, and there were many teams that made a case for the top ranking this week. Here are this week's rankings, with team name followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Kansas (3-0) (18-0) -23.37 (3)
2. Duke (1-1) (16-1) -22.72 (1)
3. Washington (1-1) (13-4) -21.81 (4)
4. Ohio State (2-0) (18-0) -21.27 (2)
5. Purdue (0-2) (15-3) -19.57 (5)
6. Kentucky (1-1) (14-4) -18.93 (7)
7. Pittsburgh (3-0) (18-1) -18.74 (10)
8. Saint Mary's (2-0) (16-2) -18.43 (8)
9. BYU (1-0) (18-1) -18.42 (6)
10. Belmont (2-0) (16-3) -18.06 (11)
11. San Diego State (2-0) (19-0) -17.88 (12)
12. Syracuse (2-1) (18-1) -16.40 (20)
13. Texas (1-0) (14-3) -16.33 (9)
14. Wisconsin (1-0) (13-4) -16.08 (18)
15. UNLV (1-1) (14-4) -16.06 (14)
16. Illinois (1-1) (14-5) -15.84 (19)
17. Vanderbilt (1-1) (12-4) -15.84 (16)
18. Maryland (1-1) (11-6) -15.57 (15)
19. West Virginia (2-0) (12-4) -15.35 (23)
20. Georgetown (2-1) (14-5) -15.23 (21)
21. Arizona (1-0) (15-3) -15.18 (17)
22. Louisville (1-1) (14-3) -14.96 (13)
23. Villanova (2-1) (16-2) -14.34 (24)
24. Marquette (1-1) (13-6) -13.99 (25)
25. Missouri (2-1) (16-3) -13.62 (NR)

Dropping Out:
North Carolina (2-1) (13-5) -13.53 (22)

Ranked teams by conference:
Big East: 7
Big 10: 4
Big 12: 3
MWC: 3
ACC: 2
Pac 10: 2
SEC: 2
WCC: 1
Atl Sun: 1

Kansas took the top spot this week after beating three strong conference rivals in a row, with two of those on the road. They continue to face tough competition this week with Texas and Colorado on deck, but they should be able to beat both of them, which should keep them in the top spot.

Duke only dropped one spot following their loss to Florida State, and a large part of the reason is that the Seminoles were already a top 50 team before the upset, and they were playing at home, so a close game was already expected. Their next big test comes at the end of the month when they go on the road to face Saint John's and Maryland, either of which could knock them off.

Ohio State dropped two spots this week despite remaining undefeated and having 3 of the top 5 lose. They beat their two opponents this week by a combined 7 points, and neither Penn State nor Michigan is looking like a tournament-quality team at this point in the season.

Purdue didn't drop at all after losing both of its games this week, but neither was a blowout, and both were to quality opponents. While I don't feel that Minnesota is as good as advertised, they are not a bad team, and West Virginia was expected to beat them at home, at least in my opinion.

Pittsburgh beat a very good Georgetown team on the road by 15 points last Wednesday, then beat Syracuse, who had been undefeated up to that point, to take the lead in the race for the Big East title. A close neutral-site loss to Tennessee probably won't hurt them at all in the long run.

Belmont entered the top 10 for the first time this week after finally receiving a vote in one of the national polls. As dominant as they were before this week, they stepped it up another notch this week, beating two more conference opponents by a combined 71 points. It's time for more voters to start noticing the "other" Bruins.

Syracuse's wins over Saint John's and Cincinnati were both better than expected, then they lost a very tough road game at Big East leader Pittsburgh. Their play this week clearly separated them from the rest of the Big East pack and put them solidly in 2nd place in the nation's best conference.

Texas played only once this week, against Big 12 doormat Oklahoma, but a 20-point win over the Sooners wasn't enough to keep the Longhorns in the top 10, especially since Texas A&M and Baylor just beat the Sooners by similar margins.

Wisconsin moved up after upsetting Illinois, who followed up that upset by taking one of their own against Michigan State. The combination of the two pushed the Badgers up 4 spots and the Illini up 3, giving the Big 10 a couple of possible challengers to Ohio State, who hasn't been playing quite as well lately.

West Virginia started the week with a 30-point blowout of Providence, then capped it off with an upset of Purdue, one of the best teams in the country. The Mountaineers have managed to move up to #21 in the AP poll while still sitting outside the top 25 according to the coaches. It may be easy to overlook them with all the quality teams in the Big East, but they have proven they belong up with the rest.

Louisville didn't play as well as they should have in a loss at Villanova, then needed a miraculous comeback to beat Marquette at home later in the week. I thought that the Cardinals were the #2 team in the Big East, but Syracuse took that honor from them this week, and Louisville rejoined the pack fighting for third.

Every time I write Missouri off, they go and post another impressive victory, this time beating up the Kansas State Wildcats by 16 points on Monday night. I expected the upset, I just didn't expect the blowout. It will be interesting to see how they play in Austin this week.

North Carolina punched their ticket out of the top 25 when they lost by 20 points to Georgia Tech, a team they would have beaten when playing their best basketball. The Tar Heels have been far too inconsistent lately to have a realistic chance of beating Duke next month.

NBA Player of the Day

LeBron James - MIA - 34 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 11-30 FG, 10-11 FT
Even though the Heat lost again in James' return and his overall performance wasn't anything out of the ordinary, the fact that there were only two games last night and that the two best players were both on losing teams gave LeBron yet another Player of the Day award. Whether he keeps his lead in the MVP rankings on Friday is another matter, especially with Miami on a 4-game slide.

Predictions - 19 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Suns at Cavaliers - Suns by 7
Jazz at Nets - Jazz by 5
76ers at Magic - Magic by 8
Pistons at Celtics - Celtics by 13
Grizzlies at Hornets - Hornets by 5
Wizards at Bucks - Bucks by 8
Knicks at Rockets - Rockets by 4
Raptors at Spurs - Spurs by 14
Lakers at Mavericks - Lakers by 1
Thunder at Nuggets - Nuggets by 4
Trail Blazers at Kings - Blazers by 5
Pacers at Warriors - Warriors by 1
Timberwolves at Clippers - Clippers by 6

College Basketball

Iowa at (1) Ohio State - Ohio State by 22
(5) Duke at North Carolina State - Duke by 12
Air Force at (6) San Diego State - San Diego State by 21
(10) Texas A&M at (11) Texas - Texas by 9
Penn State at (13) Purdue - Purdue by 18
Saint John's at (15) Louisville - Louisville by 10
Cincinnati at (16) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 6
San Diego at (21) Saint Mary's - Saint Mary's by 36
Marshall at West Virginia - West Virginia by 15
Mississippi at Vanderbilt - Vanderbilt by 18
Colorado State at UNLV - UNLV by 16

Prediction Results - 18 Jan

NBA: 0/2 (.000) 306/428 overall (.715)
College Basketball: 3/4 (.750) 293/347 overall (.844)
Upsets: 1/1 (1.000) 73/117 overall (.624)

The upset streak is alive and well at 14.

College Basketball Overrated and Underrated - 18 Jan

I've decided to move my overrated and underrated feature to Tuesdays now that the NFL regular season is over to make it match up better with the release of the AP poll on Mondays. All five of my overrated teams lost in the past week, and three of them exited the national rankings as a result. The other two remain nationally ranked, so they also remain on my overrated list. 3 of my underrated teams are also leaving the rankings this week. Saint Mary's made the top 25 in both polls finally, Arizona is ranked by the coaches, and Marquette has finally earned a few votes. All 3 remain among the top 8 underrated schools, but have been replaced among the top 5. Here are the newly updated rankings, with previous ranking in parentheses.

Overrated

1. Minnesota

2. Texas A&M

3. Notre Dame (3)

4. Villanova (4)

5. Connecticut

Minnesota has somehow rocketed back up the rankings despite losing 3 of its last 6 games, all thanks to one big win against Purdue. That won't be enough to keep them afloat after they lose at Michigan in their only game this week and people realize that the Purdue game was a fluke.

Texas A&M is ranked at #11 by the AP after they upset Missouri at home this week, but the Tigers are also somewhat overrated, and the win was predicted in advance by my formula. They should take a little bit of a hit when they lose to Texas tomorrow, especially if they lose by double-digits, which is quite likely.

Notre Dame is a good team, but they should have fallen much farther after losing to two unranked teams in a row last week. Their two big wins were over a slumping Georgetown team and an overrated UConn team, so neither one holds much sway with me. They should win both of their games this week, but both Cincinnati and Marquette have some upset potential.

Villanova lost at fellow overrated team UConn yesterday and should lose at Syracuse on Saturday. The combination of those two losses should be enough to give them a significant drop in the rankings, although the Big East tends to gain more forgiveness for losses than other conferences. (see Notre Dame above)

Connecticut may seem like an odd choice for this list after beating two ranked teams in the past two weeks, but it will all become more clear when the Huskies are upset by Marquette one week from today.

Underrated

1. Belmont (1)

2. Maryland (2)

3. Washington

4. UNLV

5. Vanderbilt

Do mine eyes deceive me? There must be a coach out there somewhere who has been reading my blog, because Belmont received one vote this week in the Coaches' Poll, although they are still voteless in the AP. They will remain in these rankings until one of two things happens: either they will lose a game, or the voters will recognize them and put them in the top 25. At this point neither one seems very likely, but one of them is bound to happen eventually, isn't it?

It seems that losing close games to top 10 teams doesn't earn you respect among poll voters. Just 6 days after losing by 7 points at #1 Duke, the Maryland Terrapins lost by 8 points at #7 Villanova. If they had won those games, you'd be seeing them ranked up around #15, but I guess good performance on the road doesn't mean much to the experts.

Washington lost a close game to Stanford this week on a last-second tip-in, which was enough to cause a drop in the rankings and a climb in the underrated rankings. After they take care of Arizona this week, they should earn a little of that back, but it's unlikely they will ever get to the top 10, which is where they really belong.

3 of UNLV's 4 losses have come to ranked teams, BYU, San Diego State, and Louisville, but because they don't play in one of the power conferences, the result is a drop from the top 25. A smart basketball fan would notice that they have beaten Virginia Tech, Kansas State, and Wisconsin this year and realize that they are the real deal.

Vanderbilt dropped again after they lost at in-state rival Tennessee this week, but they face off with West Coast powerhouse Saint Mary's this week in a game that will be very important for both teams, since neither one is ranked nearly as high as they should be. As of today, I would pick Vandy to win, but that could change by Saturday.

NBA Player of the Day

Blake Griffin - LAC - 47 pts, 14 reb, 3 ast, 19-24 FG, 9-11 FT

On a day where two players scored over 40 and two others had triple-doubles, Griffin's performance in LA's upset win over the Pacers is still the clear winner of this award. He missed only 5 field goals and 2 free throws in the game, for an incredible 80% true shooting percentage, and he also made a case for the coaches to pick him as an All-Star reserve.

Predictions - 18 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Hawks at Heat - Heat by 8

Bobcats at Bulls - Bulls by 13

College Basketball

TCU at (9) BYU - BYU by 26

(12) Kentucky at Alabama - Kentucky by 6

(18) Michigan State at (22) Illinois - Illinois by 8

(23) Georgetown at Seton Hall - Georgetown by 4

Prediction Results - 17 Jan

NBA: 10/13 (.769) 306/426 overall (.718)

College Basketball: 4/4 (1.000) 290/343 overall (.845)

Upsets: 3/3 (1.000) 72/116 overall (.621)

My upset streak is now up to 13 in a row correct, and it may extend to 14 today.

NBA Rankings - 17 Jan

Last week's number one team has now lost three straight, which cost them the top spot (obviously). There have been a lot of really hot teams lately, but not as much movement as you would expect in the overall rankings. Here are the top teams of the season so far, with team name followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. San Antonio (4-0) (35-6) -7.13 (2)

2. Miami (0-3) (30-12) -6.76 (1)

3. Boston (2-1) (30-9) -5.64 (3)

4. LA Lakers (3-1) (30-12) -4.98 (4)

5. Orlando (1-2) (26-14) -4.26 (5)

6. Chicago (3-1) (27-13) -4.10 (6)

7. Denver (3-1) (23-17) -2.39 (13)

8. Dallas (0-3) (26-13) -2.25 (7)

9. New Orleans (3-0) (25-16) -1.99 (9)

10. Utah (2-0) (27-13) -1.85 (10)

11. Oklahoma City (2-0) (27-13) -1.54 (11)

12. Atlanta (1-1) (26-15) -1.18 (8)

13. Memphis (2-1) (19-21) -0.76 (14)

14. Portland (1-2) (21-20) -0.24 (12)

15. Houston (2-2) (18-23) -0.20 (17)

16. New York (1-2) (22-17) 0.34 (15)

17. Milwaukee (0-2) (14-23) 0.91 (16)

18. Philadelphia (1-1) (16-23) 1.36 (18)

19. Indiana (2-1) (16-21) 1.67 (19)

20. Phoenix (2-1) (17-21) 2.45 (20)

21. LA Clippers (2-1) (14-25) 2.65 (21)

22. Golden State (1-1) (16-23) 3.17 (22)

23. Charlotte (2-2) (15-23) 4.85 (25)

24. Toronto (0-3) (13-27) 5.08 (23)

25. Detroit (2-2) (14-26) 5.09 (24)

26. Minnesota (1-2) (10-31) 5.53 (26)

27. Washington (2-1) (11-27) 6.57 (27)

28. New Jersey (0-3) (10-30) 6.58 (28)

29. Sacramento (1-3) (9-29) 7.20 (29)

30. Cleveland (0-3) (8-32) 11.32 (30)

On Fire:

The Denver Nuggets beat last week's first place and last place teams by identical 28-point margins during the week, then lost to the new #1 team, the San Antonio Spurs, last night. The biggest reason for their sudden rise in the rankings was the win over Miami, along with the blowout of Phoenix that came right before it. Maybe the trade rumors aren't really having any impact after all.

The Houston Rockets played four very difficult games this week and all four ended up with five or six-point margins. Strangely, they won the road games against Boston and Atlanta, but lost at home to Oklahoma City and New Orleans. All four of those opponents were in the top 11 last week, so the fact that Houston played well against all four gave them a little nudge upward in the rankings.

Charlotte's story this week is very similar to that of Houston. They beat two very good teams, Chicago and Memphis, then lost close games to Boston and New Orleans. The Bobcats have won 6 of their past 10, and seem to be enjoying playing under a new coach. It may not be too late for a playoff push.

Ice Cold:

After winning 21 of 22 games, the Miami Heat have now dropped 3 straight. First came the loss to the Clippers, who have been hot of late but still shouldn't have been in the same class as Miami, especially since they were at full strength. They lost to Denver after that, a game in which LeBron sat out, but they still had two All-Stars on the court to Denver's one, so the loss was unacceptable, especially by 28 points. The loss to Chicago for forgivable, because Derrick Rose has had Chicago playing its best basketball since Michael Jordan retired the second time.

Atlanta tumbled back out of the top 10 this week after barely pulling off a win against Toronto and then losing to the Houston Rockets 3 nights later. We'll see a little better who they really are when they face the Miami Heat this week.

After losing a close game against Miami to finish up last week, the Portland Trail Blazers followed it up with much less impressive losses to the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns. A close win over New Jersey, who's only won once since Christmas, didn't help their cause either.

NBA Player of the Day

Tony Parker - SAS - 30 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 11-15 FG, 2-2 3P, 6-6 FT

Parker was completely unstoppable and nearly perfect in the Spurs big win over the streaking Denver Nuggets in San Antonio last night. The Spurs have the 3rd-best record in league history at the midway point of the season and largest division lead they've had in 30 years, and Parker is one of the biggest reasons for it.

Predictions - 17 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Suns at Knicks - Knicks by 5

Jazz at Wizards - Jazz by 6

Bulls at Grizzlies - Bulls by 1

Bobcats at 76ers - 76ers by 6

Raptors at Hornets - Hornets by 10

Bucks at Rockets - Rockets by 4

Mavericks at Pistons - Mavs by 5

Pacers at Clippers - Clippers by 2

Kings at Hawks - Hawks by 11

Nets at Warriors - Warriors by 6

Magic at Celtics - Celtics by 4

Timberwolves at Trail Blazers - Blazers by 8

Thunder at Lakers - Lakers by 6

College Basketball

(3) Kansas at Baylor - Kansas by 7

(4) Syracuse at (5) Pittsburgh - Pitt by 8

(7) Villanova at (9) Connecticut - UConn by 6

(20) Kansas State at (12) Missouri - Missouri by 6

Prediction Results - 16 Jan

NFL: 1/2 (.500) 75/120 overall (.625)

NBA: 1/2 (.500) 296/413 overall (.717)

College Basketball: 4/5 (.800) 286/339 overall (.844)

Upsets: 2/2 (1.000) 69/113 overall (.611)

Predictions - 16 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Lakers vs. Clippers - Lakers by 9
Nuggets at Spurs - Spurs by 7

NFL

Seahawks at Bears - Bears by 15
Jets at Patriots - Patriots by 12

College Basketball

(8) Purdue at West Virginia - West Virginia by 2
(11) Notre Dame at Saint John's - Saint John's by 1
(18) Washington at California - Washington by 7
Iowa at (25) Minnesota - Minnesota by 12
North Carolina at Georgia Tech - North Carolina by 7

Prediction Results - 15 Jan

NFL: 2/2 (1.000) 74/118 overall (.627)
NBA: 7/9 (.778) 295/411 overall (.718)
College Basketball: 22/23 (.957) 282/334 overall (.844)
Upsets: 7/7 (1.000) 67/111 overall (.604)

NBA Player of the Day

Derrick Rose - CHI - 34 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast, 3 blk, 12-27 FG, 2-6 3P, 8-8 FT
Rose seems to be taking it personally that I dropped him in the MVP rankings this week, winning the Player of the Day award for the second straight day as the Bulls knocked off the Miami Heat one day after beating the Pacers. If the Bulls don't lose this week, look for Rose to make a big move toward the top of the MVP standings.

NBA All-Stars

With the All-Star game just weeks away and the voting set to end next week, I've decided to put in my opinion on which players should be included on the All-Star teams. I've used the same formula that I use to determine my MVP rankings, but I've removed the use of team record as a measurement, since All-Stars should be the best players, and should not be limited to players on winning teams.

East

Starters

F LeBron James

F Amare Stoudemire

C Dwight Howard

G Dwyane Wade

G Derrick Rose

Bench

F Carlos Boozer

F Paul Pierce

C Al Horford

G Raymond Felton

G Joe Johnson

F Chris Bosh

F Joakim Noah

F Josh Smith (injury replacement, if necessary)

It looks like the voters have actually got the starting lineup right for the first time for as long as I can remember. The coaches have a few tough decisions, and I assume they will probably choose Rondo over one of the guards I've selected, but I believe this is the best team the East can put on the floor, and a downright scary starting five.

West

Starters

F Kevin Love

F Kevin Durant

C Pau Gasol

G Russell Westbrook

G Kobe Bryant

Bench

F Blake Griffin

F Dirk Nowitzki

C Zach Randolph

G Monta Ellis

G Deron Williams

F LaMarcus Aldridge

F Carmelo Anthony

F Rudy Gay (injury replacement, if necessary)

You may have noticed that both centers I listed on the West roster are actually power forwards, but with the lack of quality centers in the West right now and the injured Yao Ming leading the voting, I looked to a couple of big forwards who play more like centers to fill those slots. Leaving Chris Paul off my ballot may be a little controversial, but Westbrook and Williams are both playing better at the point this year, and Monta Ellis is one of the most exciting players that noone gets to watch. I would start Love over Anthony, which the voters wouldn't, but there is no more dominant inside player in the NBA right now than the Timberwolves' big man, Amare and Dwight Howard included.

NBA Player of the Day

Derrick Rose - CHI - 29 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 11-21 FG, 3-6 3P, 4-5 FT

Rose continued his stellar play with a double-double big man style last night. You don't expect 10 rebounds and 2 blocks from your point guard, but Rose does everything well, and he has the Bulls winning, which is what has made him an MVP candidate so early in his career.

Predictions - 15 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

College Basketball

Virginia at (1) Duke - Duke by 30

Penn State at (2) Ohio State - Ohio State by 25

Nebraska at (3) Kansas - Kansas by 19

Cincinnati at (4) Syracuse - Syracuse by 11

Seton Hall at (5) Pittsburgh - Pitt by 19

(6) San Diego State at New Mexico - San Diego State by 2

Maryland at (7) Villanova - Villanova by 3

(9) Connecticut at DePaul - UConn by 11

(12) Missouri at (13) Texas A&M - Texas A&M by 7

Oklahoma at (14) Texas - Texas by 24

LSU at (15) Kentucky - Kentucky by 26

(16) Illinois at (21) Wisconsin - Wisconsin by 6

Marquette at (17) Louisville - Louisville by 7

(19) Georgetown at Rutgers - Georgetown by 5

Texas Tech at (20) Kansas State - Kansas State by 18

(22) UCF at Southern Miss - Southern Miss by 2

(23) Temple at Duquesne - Duquesne by 5

Northwestern at (24) Michigan State - Michigan State by 7

Vanderbilt at Tennessee - Vanderbilt by 1

UNLV at Air Force - UNLV by 7

Campbell at Belmont - Belmont by 25

Santa Clara at Saint Mary's - Saint Mary's by 24

Arizona State at Arizona - Arizona by 21

NFL

Ravens at Steelers - Steelers by 5

Packers at Falcons - Packers by 2

Seahawks at Bears - Bears by 14

Jets at Patriots - Patriots by 12

NBA

Rockets at Hawks - Hawks by 5

Raptors at Wizards - Wizards by 1

Hornets at Bobcats - Hornets by 4

Kings at Pistons - Pistons by 5

Heat at Bulls - Bulls by 1

Magic at Timberwolves - Magic by 7

Mavericks at Grizzlies - Mavericks by 1

Cavaliers at Nuggets - Nuggets by 17

Nets at Trail Blazers - Trail Blazers by 10

Prediction Results - 14 Jan

NBA: 8/11 (.727) 288/402 overall (.716)

Upsets: 1/2 (.500) 60/104 overall (.577)

NBA MVP Rankings - 14 Jan

Losses and injuries have caused quite a bit of shifting among the leading MVP candidates, but the players on that list remain the same and the very top also remains unchanged. Here are the top candidates for each of the major awards as of today. Previous ranking is in parentheses.

Most Valuable Player

1. LeBron James - MIA - 25.4 pts, 7.0 reb, 7.2 ast (1)

LeBron sat out last night's loss to the Denver Nuggets, but his previous 3 games were magnificent. The highlight of the week was his 44-point, 13-rebound domination in Portland on Sunday. The missed game was James' first of the season, and unless the injury is more serious than it sounds, it should have no impact on his place in this race.

2. Dwyane Wade - MIA - 24.9 pts, 6.5 reb, 4.3 ast (2)

Wade had a pair of 30-point games this week, but he looked lost without his running mate last night against Denver. He shot only 37% from the field and made only 2 of 7 free throws, which would be considered low even for Shaq. You can't prove anything in just one game, but James appears to be the Heat's MVP.

3. Pau Gasol - LAL - 18.5 pts, 10.9 reb, 1.9 blk (5)

Pau returned to form this week with 4 straight double-doubles as the Lakers went 4-0. Is it just a coincidence that the Lakers play their best basketball when Gasol is playing at his best? I don't think so.

4. Kevin Durant - OKC - 28.5 pts, 6.2 reb, 3.0 ast (6)

Durant padded his lead in the scoring race this week with 3 straight games of at least 30 points, including a 40-point gem against the Grizzlies. The Thunder won all 3 games, and Durant had averages of 62% from the field, 50% from long range, and 87% from the line.

5. Kobe Bryant - LAL - 25.2 pts, 5.1 reb, 4.6 ast (7)

Kobe was having just another average week until Wednesday night, when he exploded for 39 points against the Golden State Warriors, his first 30-point outing since the calendar changed. Kobe also managed to shoot a perfect 17 for 17 from the free throw line in the last 3 Laker games this week.

6. Derrick Rose - CHI - 24.1 pts, 4.4 reb, 8.1 ast (3)

Rose's overall performance was not bad this week, with averages of 27 points and 6 assists, but his Chicago Bulls lost games to Philadelphia and Charlotte, two members of the East's lower echelon. Had the Bulls won both games, he would have held on to his #3 position.

7. Russell Westbrook - OKC - 22.2 pts, 5.1 reb, 8.3 ast (9)

Westbrook highlighted a stellar week with his second triple-double of the season last night, which was enough to earn him the Player of the Day award again. (Oops, did I spoil the surprise?) Westbrook earned at least a double-double in each game this week as the Thunder went undefeated against some tough competition.

8. Dirk Nowitzki - DAL - 24.1 pts, 7.4 reb, 2.4 ast (4)

Dirk has now missed 8 straight games, 6 of which were losses for the Mavericks. This injury proves Nowitzki's worth to Dallas, which makes it even more important for him to make sure he's fully healed before returning, because they can't survive without him for any extended period of time.

9. Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 26.1 pts, 8.9 reb, 2.3 blk (8)

Amare was very consistent this week, scoring 22 or 23 points in every game, but he dropped a spot because the Knicks lost two of those games. The losses came on the road in Utah and LA, so they weren't unexpected, but a couple of wins could have shot Amare up the rankings.

10. Dwight Howard - ORL - 21.9 pts, 13.4 reb, 2.3 blk (10)

Howard averaged over 15 rebounds per game this week while increasing his scoring output in each game, from 13 last Friday to 39 last night. He even converted 17 of 20 free throw attempts last night, but after the Magic lost their last two games, Howard wasn't able to move up in the rankings.

Close Calls:

Deron Williams, Al Horford, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer

Rookie of the Year

1. Blake Griffin - LAC - 21.8 pts, 12.7 reb, 3.4 ast (1)

In the only award race where a unanimous vote is likely, Griffin is starting to make a case for entering the MVP race. The last time he didn't record a double-double was Nov. 18 against Indiana, and the Clippers have won 8 of their past 11, including the last 3 in a row, including a huge win that ended Miami's road winning streak on Wednesday.

2. John Wall - WAS - 15.6 pts, 3.6 reb, 8.9 ast (2)

Following a subpar performance against the Nets last Friday, Wall turned up the heat with 3 straight games at or near a double-double. The Wizards have yet to win a road game this year, but Wall sure has them playing well at home lately.

3. Landry Fields - NYK - 10.1 pts, 7.3 reb, 1.9 ast (3)

Fields had 14 points and 10 rebounds in an impressive road win over the Phoenix Suns, then had three more fairly solid games as one of the main members of the Knicks' rotation. If #1 picks were not allowed to win this award, he would run away with it.

4. DeMarcus Cousins - SAC - 12.7 pts, 7.7 reb, 1.7 ast (4)

After having the best week of any rookie not named Blake Griffin last week, Cousins began to drop off a bit this week. He averaged only 12 points and 8 rebounds as the Kings lost 3 straight road games.

5. Eric Bledsoe - LAC - 7.1 pts, 3.1 reb, 4.2 ast (5)

Bledsoe continued his roller-coaster rookie season this week with another low week, finishing with only 5 points and 6 assists in the Clippers' two wins. It's looking like Bledsoe may be saying goodbye to his spot in the rankings next week, with Evan Turner and Wesley Johnson hot on his heels.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Jamal Crawford - ATL - 16.6 pts, 1.9 reb, 3.6 ast (2)

Crawford regained the top spot in the sixth man rankings this week, but not because so many good bench players are being made starters. Crawford scored 36 points against Toronto on Wednesday, his second 30-point effort in as many weeks, and the Hawks have won 5 in a row.

2. Jason Terry - DAL - 15.6 pts, 1.9 reb, 4.5 ast (3)

Terry seems to have finally adjusted to his role without Dirk Nowitzki around, scoring between 16 and 19 points in 5 straight games. His consistency has translated into wins for Dallas, but he's still one of the best bench players in the game.

3. J.R. Smith - DEN - 11.9 pts, 4.2 reb, 2.0 ast (NR)

Smith made 8 three-pointers in last night upset win over Miami, despite having hit only 1 in the previous five games combined. It was his second straight game scoring in double figures, and the second straight game that the Nuggets hit 130.

4. Shawn Marion - DAL - 11.7 pts, 6.1 reb, 1.1 ast (NR)

Marion has really picked up his game since Christmas, but it may have something to do with Nowitzki being out. He has scored in double figures in 7 of his past 8 games, including 25 in a loss to the Thunder last week.

5. Glen Davis - BOS - 12.5 pts, 5.4 reb, 1.3 ast (NR)

Davis has been doing a lot of scoring for the Celtics lately, a product of Kevin Garnett sitting out, but Davis' production should drop off now that KG has returned to the lineup. Davis failed to hit 50% of his shots in any of the past 3 games, which is unacceptable for a big man.

Most Improved Player

Stats shown are difference compared to last season.

1. Dorell Wright - GSW - +9.7 pts, +2.6 reb, +1.6 ast (1)

Wright scored at least 20 points in each of the Warriors' games this week, the first time he's done that this season. He's also hit at least 3 3-pointers in each of the past 4 games, and somehow is still being overlooked by most "experts" for this award.

2. D. J. Augustin - CHA - +7.9 pts, +1.8 reb, +3.9 ast (2)

Augustin averaged 20 points this week while shooting over 50 % and leading the Bobcats to 3 wins, which has extended their season-long streak to 4. He's also currently 5th in the league in free throw percentage, shooting just a hair under 91% for the season.

3. Kevin Love - MIN - +7.5 pts, +4.7 reb, +0.1 ast (3)

As he continues his amazing streak of double-doubles, let's hope the coaches show Kevin a little Love and vote him in as a reserve on the All-Star team, an honor that he undoubtedly deserves, whether his team is good or not.

4. Jrue Holiday - PHI - +6.8 pts, +1.2 reb, +2.9 ast (5)

Jrue has now scored in double figures in 10 straight games for the 76ers, and has passed out at least 10 assists in 3 of those games. Holiday appears to have a great career ahead of him, and the 76ers seem to have finally found a point guard.

5. Nick Young - WAS - +7.3 pts, +1.0 reb, +0.4 ast (NR)

Young has definitely taken advantage of Gilbert Arenas' departure, as evidenced by his 43-point showcase game against the Sacramento Kings. While Young doesn't do much besides score, his jump in points alone is worth noticing.

NBA Player of the Day

Russell Westbrook - OKC - 32 pts, 10 reb, 13 ast, 2 blk, 11-22 FG, 10-13 FT

While I may have spoiled the surprise by announcing his victory earlier, the Thunder sure didn't spoil Westbrook's second triple-double of the season, knocking off the extremely hot Orlando Magic by one point. This triple-double was also less controversial, as Westbrook grabbed his last rebound with 3:14 left and didn't have to push at the end to get it.

Predictions - 14 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Bulls at Pacers - Bulls by 1

Bucks at 76ers - 76ers by 2

Pistons at Raptors - Raptors by 4

Bobcats at Celtics - Celtics by 14

Kings at Knicks - Knicks by 11

Mavericks at Spurs - Spurs by 7

Hornets at Rockets - Rockets by 1

Cavaliers at Jazz - Jazz by 16

Clippers at Warriors - Warriors by 2

Nets at Lakers - Lakers by 15

Trail Blazers at Suns - Suns by 1

Prediction Results - 13 Jan

NBA: 2/3 (.667) 280/391 overall (.716)

College Basketball: 4/6 (.667) 260/311 overall (.836)

Upsets: 1/1 (1.000) 59/102 overall (.578)