1. New England (14-2) -17.92 (1)
2. Pittsburgh (12-4) -13.26 (3)
3. Green Bay (10-6) -12.68 (2)
4. NY Jets (11-5) -9.19 (7)
5. San Diego (9-7) -8.46 (8)
6. Baltimore (12-4) -8.15 (4)
7. Atlanta (13-3) -8.06 (5)
8. Chicago (11-5) -6.02 (10)
9. Philadelphia (10-6) -5.66 (6)
10. Indianapolis (10-6) -4.97 (11)
11. NY Giants (10-6) -3.96 (14)
12. Detroit (6-10) -3.78 (12)
13. Oakland (8-8) -3.75 (20)
14. New Orleans (11-5) -3.59 (9)
15. Tennessee (6-10) -3.20 (17)
16. Tampa Bay (10-6) -2.21 (18)
17. Miami (7-9) -1.47 (15)
18. Houston (6-10) -0.88 (21)
19. Cincinnati (4-12) -0.70 (19)
20. Kansas City (10-6) -0.50 (13)
21. Dallas (6-10) -0.10 (22)
22. Minnesota (6-10) -0.03 (25)
23. Cleveland (5-11) 0.85 (16)
24. Washington (6-10) 1.88 (23)
25. San Francisco (6-10) 2.03 (28)
26. Jacksonville (8-8) 3.14 (24)
27. Buffalo (4-12) 3.81 (26)
28. Saint Louis (7-9) 4.30 (27)
29. Denver (4-12) 6.04 (29)
30. Seattle (7-9) 6.51 (30)
31. Carolina (2-14) 11.13 (32)
32. Arizona (5-11) 11.19 (31)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
New England
The Good: Beating the New York Jets 45-3 on Monday Night Football proved to everyone that the Patriots are the team to beat once again this year.
The Bad: Losing 28-14 to the same New York Jets in week 2, long before the team had really meshed together.
The Ugly: A 34-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns in November, which served as a wakeup call and led to an 8 game winning streak to end the season.
Pittsburgh
The Good: The Steelers beat Oakland 35-3 on November 21, while the Raiders were on a 3-game winning streak and had a winning record for the first time in years.
The Bad: Just one week later, the Steelers narrowly escaped with an overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills, who had a record of 2-8 at the time.
The Ugly: When a 20-10 loss to a playoff team (New Orleans) qualifies as the ugliest game for your team, you know you're good.
Kansas City
The Good: Beating Tennessee 34-14 in a game that should have been close but wasn't and clinching a playoff berth at the same time.
The Bad: Losing their final game to Oakland 31-10, allowing Oakland to finish an undefeated division schedule in a game that was basically meaningless to the Chiefs.
The Ugly: A 31-0 loss to San Diego without quarterback Matt Cassel in a game that looked like a must-win to hold off the Chargers and win the division.
Indianapolis
The Good: Beating up on little brother Eli Manning and the New York Giants 38-14 in week 2, the one time the Colts looked really good all season.
The Bad: Losing the week before at Houston, 34-24, to open the season in a way they certainly weren't used to.
The Ugly: Their 36-14 loss to San Diego in week 12, in which the Chargers totally dominated the Colts from start to finish and looked like the one that would make the playoffs of the two teams.
Baltimore
The Good: A 17-14 win over Pittsburgh in Week 4, before Ben Roethlisberger made his return, but still a solid road win.
The Bad: Losing to the Cincinnati Bengals 15-10 in week 2, which should never happen to a playoff team.
The Ugly: A week after taking the Patriots to overtime and losing, the Ravens allowed Buffalo to take them to overtime before escaping 37-34.
NY Jets
The Good: Beating New England 28-14 in the second game of the season, which started a run of 9 wins in 10 games.
The Bad: A 24-20 win over Denver just before their bye week that was just a little too close for comfort.
The Ugly: The 45-3 blowout at the hands of their biggest rival, the New England Patriots, on national television.
Atlanta
The Good: Beating the Arizona Cardinals 41-7 in week 2, a game that told where both teams would be heading for the rest of the season.
The Bad: A 16-14 win over San Francisco in week 4, just a week after beating the defending Super Bowl Champions.
The Ugly: Losing 31-17 in Philadelphia in October, especially now that the Eagles are a potential playoff opponent.
Chicago
The Good: Beating Minnesota 40-14 on Monday Night Football, just one week after being embarrassed by the Patriots at home.
The Bad: Losing 23-20 to the Seattle Seahawks, the first losing team ever to make the playoffs.
The Ugly: The 36-7 loss to New England on their home field in the snow in Mid-December, from which they rebounded nicely.
Philadelphia
The Good: Beating the Redskins and Donovan McNabb 59-28 on Monday Night in Michael Vick's 6 touchdown game.
The Bad: Losing to Tennessee by 18 points heading into their bye week, right before the Titans went into a full tailspin.
The Ugly: Losing to the Vikings at home in the blizzard-delayed Tuesday night game two weeks ago, when a first round bye was still a possibility.
Seattle
The Good: Their opening 31-6 win over preseason favorite San Francisco in a game that ultimately decided the division.
The Bad: Their 33-3 loss at Oakland when their record was 4-2, a loss that sent them tumbling and fighting for their playoff lives until the last day of the season.
The Ugly: A 41-7 loss to the Giants the following week that proved that the NFC West was definitely the weakest division in the league.
New Orleans
The Good: Beating Tampa Bay 31-6 in a game that eventually decided the playoff fates of both teams.
The Bad: Losing to the Cleveland Browns 30-17 just one week after their big win over the Bucs, a loss that they followed with a 6-game winning streak.
The Ugly: Losing to the Arizona Cardinals the week before the Tampa Bay blowout, making them the only team with a winning record to lose to Arizona this year.
Green Bay
The Good: A 45-7 demolition of the Dallas Cowboys in week 9, the first time they showed the domination they are capable of.
The Bad: Their 16-13 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins in week 5, their second of four 3-point losses this season.
The Ugly: Just one week later they lost in overtime again, this time to the Miami Dolphins in Green Bay, giving them their third close loss.
NBA Player of the Day
Dwyane Wade - MIA - 31 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 12-20 FG, 6-6 FT
I might as well just rename this award the Miami Heat Player of the Night Award, with Wade claiming the award for the third time in the Heat's past six games, tying his teammate LeBron James, who's won it the other 3 games. He narrowly edged out LeBron last night with a slightly better shooting percentage and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Predictions - 4 Jan
Upset picks are in italics.
College Football
(6) Ohio State* vs. (8) Arkansas - Ohio State by 3
*If Ohio State wins this game, there should be an asterisk attached, since the "Tat Five" are being allowed to play despite an obvious NCAA violation.
College Basketball
(2) Ohio State at Iowa - Ohio State by 15
(5) Pittsburgh at Providence - Pitt by 6
(9) Connecticut at (15) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 7
Arkansas at (12) Texas - Texas by 14
Indiana at (21) Minnesota - Minnesota by 8
NBA
Bucks at Heat - Heat by 12
Spurs at Knicks - Spurs by 6
Raptors at Bulls - Bulls by 11
Thunder at Grizzlies - Grizzlies by 3
Trail Blazers at Mavericks - Mavericks by 6
Hawks at Kings - Hawks by 7
Pistons at Lakers - Lakers by 11
Prediction Results - 3 Jan
College Football: 1/1 (1.000) 53/80 overall (.663)
NBA: 6/6 (1.000) 235/321 overall (.732)
College Basketball: 5/7 (.714) 200/235 (.851)
Upsets: 1/2 (.500)
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