Free Sports Picks

Well, we all saw this coming, but now it is official that the UConn Huskies beast in the paint Hasheem Thabeet has declared for the NBA draft.

As of right now the Oklahoma Sooners forward superstar Blake Griffin is the unanimous choice to be picked at number one no matter what team has the pick, but with Thabeet thrown into the mix where will he land.

Thabeet is by no means an offensive center unless he works on some post moves, but he is without a doubt a huge defensive force in the paint and can definitely improve the defense on any team he plays for on the next level.

Who knows how good this kid will be in the NBA, but he does have a very good upside for a team struggling on the defensive end of the floor.

It seemed like only a moment ago that there were 64 teams in the NCAA tournament and now we are down to just four of the elite!

Villanova and Michigan State were not supposed to be here and North Carolina and UConn would have been disappointed if they didn't get to Detriot, but this Final Four will be a battle.

The Huskies and Tar Heels have just cruised through the competition to reach the Final Four, but the Wildcats and Spartans had it tough from round two all the way to the Final Four.

The next two games will be North Carolina taking on Villanova with the Tar Heels as -7.5 point favorites. North Carolina has been really dominated throughout the tourney, but I don't think they will cover. UConn will take on Michigan State where the Huskies are -4 point favorites. I think this is a ridiculous point spread as the Huskies have been arguably the most dominate team thus far. Take the Huskies to cover with ease.

Unlike NCAA tournaments in the past there really haven't been many majors upsets this time around. There are some teams in the Sweet 16 that not many people predicted being there like Syracuse, Arizona, Purdue and Gonzaga, but for the most part the rest of the 12 teams are right where everyone thought they would be.

Although there haven't been any upsets to make headlines yet there have been a few very good teams like Memphis, Pittsburgh and Louisville that haven't exactly coasted into the third round of the tournament.

Memphis was the first team to face trouble against a very motivated Cal State Northridge team that seemed ready to cause the first upset of the tournament, but the Tigers rallied near the end of the second half to end the Madators hopes of becoming this season's Cinderellas story.

Pitt also had it fair share of struggles, but not just in the first round. Against both East Tennessee State and Oklahoma State the Panthers looked slow, worn down and just plain tired. DeJuan Blair looked great in both games and Sam Young emerged in the second round, but Pitt could have been sent packing early in the tournament.

The Cardinals had their work cut out for them in the second against ninth seed Siena. Louisville are favored to be the National champs in a lot of people's brackets and for good reason, but they almost dropped the ball against Siena only beating them by seven points.

No upsets yet, but there are some pretty good match ups coming up!

It is finally here, the most entertaining time in all of basketball, the NCAA tournament!

Not only does the tournament showcase some great teams filled with NBA talent every single year, but the most compelling part of the Big Dance is the upsets.

It happens every year, some big time high seed team comes into the tournament and gets knocked out by a Cinderella team. No matter how prepared the high seeds get before the Big Dance, it is almost inevitable that some team will fall.

In my opinion, I think the biggest upset in the first round will be 4 seed Washington losing to 13 seed Mississippi State. There are definitely some other possibilities, but this is the one game I think will be the biggest of them all.

Their last match up was close to epic with the Pittsburgh Panthers getting the best of the then best team in the country in the UConn Huskies, but then Pitt proved their first win over Jim Calhoun's squad was not just a fluke by beating the a second time convincingly.

Ironically though, despite Pitt and UConn being in the top four teams in the country, the Louisville Cardinals got the best of both teams by winning the Big East conference. This is where is starts to get interesting as we approach selection Sunday for the Big Dance. Before Pitt beat the Huskies for a second time UConn was almost a certain number one seed, but after that ten point loss things might be a little different.

With Pitt, Louisville, UConn and Villanova all NCAA tournament bound the Big East will definitely have at least one or two teams in the running when it is all said and done, but which teams will be their in the end.

The smart answer would be Pitt and UConn, but with both the Cardinals and Wildcats coming on strong to finish the season this year's NCAA tournament could be as competitive as ever.

There will definitely be other teams in other conference in the running for the National title like Oklahoma, Kansas, North Carolina and Memphis, but I would put my money on a Big East team being crownd a champion.

In the middle of the season it may have been somewhat of an even race between the always dominant ACC and the up and coming Big East for the "Best conference in the country" tag, but now it is pretty obvious that the Big East has the most talented teams in the country this year.

North Carolina, Duke and Clemson may have been favorites to come out of the ACC to win it all, but now it is looking more like UConn, Pittsburgh and possibly Louisville have a better shot at winning the tournament this month.

There other tough teams in different conferences like Oklahoma, Kansas and Memphis, but they all seem to take a back seat to the best teams in the Big East.

I tell you one thing, it is definitely going to be an interesting NCAA tourney this time around. Not like the awesome finish between Kansas and Memphis wasn't good enough last season, but this season the big dance is full of NBA talent and teams that are fun to watch.

I expect upsets galore as usual, but there could definitely be some interesting match ups as we get closer to the elite eight and final four.

Even though the UConn Huskies are the number one team in the country as of today, the Oklahoma Sooners have been as good as anyone this season in college basketball. A big part of the Sooners success has been the play of their superstar forward Blake Griffin who has just been amazing on both sides of the floor this season.

The Sooners will have their biggest test of the season on Monday when they face Big 12 conference heavyweights and defending champs in the Kansas Jayhawks. The problem is that Blake Griffin's health is in question after getting smacked in the face against Texas.

Usually a smack in the face is common place in college basketball, but this one gave Griffin a concussion which keep him out the rest of the game and handed Oklahoma their second loss of the season.

Ironically, the time they need Griffin the most will be the game where he might be watching from the bench. The MRI came out clear, but the Sooners don't want to risk his health for the future.

 It is that time again where Roy Williams' North Carolina squad goes head to head with their hated rival in Coach's Duke Blue Devils!

No matter what their records or standings in the ACC this match up is extremely heated and has been the best rivalry in college basketball for a long time.

This season both UNC and Duke come into this match up at #3 and #5 rankings in the Top 25 and both atop the ACC with North Carolina leading the way. This game will be huge not just for the winner's confidence, but it will also have a big implications on both the Top 25 rankings and their position in the ACC conference.

North Carolina comes in as the clear favorite as they are playing as good as any team in the country right now with a seven game winning streak and all their stars like Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson playing at the top of their game. 

Duke on the other hand has stumble a little bit as of late after losing to Wake Forest and then a again losing to Clemson in an embarrassing 27 point loss. The Blue Devils are still a one of the best teams in college basketball, but if they don't get it together they fall fast in both the ACC and Top 25. 

It is about time! The Huskies may have dropped one game to Georgetown early on, but they have come on strong as of late winning nine straight games as they make a final push to dethrown both Louisville and Marquette in the Big conference.

It has been no secret that the Big East conference is the toughest conference in college basketball today with so many teams that we will see in the NCAA tourney come March. Above all in the conference, in my humble opinion, is Jim Calhoun's UConn Huskies.

They are just stacked with talent and play great basketball on both end of the floor. Their defense is among the best in the country and since their loss to the Hoyas the Huskies have been untouchable!

A lot of people, especially Duke, Wake Forest and UNC fans, would say that the ACC is the best conference in the country hands down. These people do have an arguement, but when it is all said and done I see UConn on top of both the Big East and the NCAA tournament.

Marquette and Louisville may have something to say about that, but over the next couple of months we will see what all three of these great basketball programs are made of!

I have one game tonight that I will be playing in the NBA.

We all know allot of teams don't play defense in the NBA but  the Pacers are one of the worst defensive team I have seen in a long time. It seems every other night that the games are in the 250 range, I haven't seen scoring like that sense the 80's the Bird - Magic era.

Tonight we have another high total, 215 with Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic. 

I think we go over the total again, both teams can score and the Pacers are unwilling to play defense . Orlando blows out the Pacers tonight.

Pacers 101

Orlando 128

The play is Over 215

GL Everyone