AP Top 25 Poll: Week 17

After Missouri's choke job at Kansas in the last ever Border War and their mid-week loss to K-State, they fall from #3 to #7 in the poll. Meanwhile, Creighton returns to the poll for the first time in three weeks.

1	Kentucky (63)	28-1
2	Syracuse (2)	29-1
3	Kansas	24-5
4	Duke	25-4
5	Michigan State	24-5
6	North Carolina	25-4
7	Missouri	25-4
8	Marquette	24-5
9	Baylor	24-5
10	Ohio State	23-6
11	Georgetown	21-6
12	Murray State	28-1
13	Michigan	21-8
14	Wisconsin	21-8
15	Wichita State	26-4
16	Florida	22-7
17	UNLV	24-6
18	Indiana	22-7
19	Louisville	22-7
20	Notre Dame	20-9
21	San Diego State	22-6
22	Florida State	19-9
23	Temple	22-6
24	Virginia	21-7
25	Creighton	25-5

2012 NBA All-Star Weekend

Here is the schedule for this weekend's festivities from the Amway Center in Orlando.

All times ET
Friday
2012 Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, 7 p.m. | ESPN 
BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, 9 p.m. | TNT
Saturday
NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, 8:30 p.m. | TNT

• 2012 Haier Shooting Stars (1st Event)
• 2012 Taco Bell Skills Challenge (2nd Event)
• 2012 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest (3rd Event)
• 2012 Sprite Slam Dunk (4th Event)

Sunday

2012 NBA All-Star Game presented by Kia Motors, 7:30 p.m. (7:37 p.m. tip) | TNT

Super Bowl XLVI Preview: Giants vs. Patriots

Let's rock it like it's 2008. It's New England vs. New York in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in Indianapolis tonight in Super Bowl XLVI. And just like four years ago, you've come here for the complete breakdown.

QB: Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady

Four years ago, this was a mismatch coming into the game, with Tom Brady with his 50 TD season and the perfect Pats going for history. This time, it's a different story. QB Eli Manning has elevated himself into the upper-echelon of quarterbacks in the league, and with a victory will surpass his big brother with his second Super Bowl ring. His rapport with his young group of receivers is sensational right now, as they carved apart Atlanta, Green Bay, and San Francisco's defenses on the way to Indy. Meanwhile, Tom Terrific, going for his fourth Super Bowl title, has been great as usual, throwing for 5200 yards in the regular season, maestro of a Bill Belichick offense that is centered on getting the ball in space to the tight-end, as well as to the slot receiver.

Slight Edge: Patriots

RB: Ahmad Bradshaw/Brandon Jacobs vs. BenJarvus Green-Ellis 

Both teams' running games are really just used to set up the play-action passes down the field. The Giants' running game, ranked last in the regular season has picked up a tad bit in the playoffs, though, with the two headed monster of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw averaging over 100 yards a game in their three playoff victories. Meanwhile, New England has been creative in trying to move the ball on the ground, not only by using Green-Ellis, but also handing off to TE Aaron Hernandez at times to get production.

Edge: Giants
WR/TE: Hakeem Nicks/Victor Cruz/Mario Manningham vs. Rob Gronkowski/Wes Welker/Aaron Hernandez

The Giants' wide receivers, while young, have matured and emerged as dependable targets for Eli Manning this season. Victor Cruz has really come out of nowhere to break the Giants' receiving records, while Hakeem Nicks, when healthy, is a solid #1 receiver that can stretch the field for you. New England's patch-work secondary, ranked 31st against the pass during in the regular season, which at times has even used offensive players like Julian Edelman to play defensive back must prevent big plays from the Giant wide receivers, who can break a long touchdown at any given moment.
Meanwhile, New England's receiving threats start with super tight-end Rob Gronkowski, who scored an NFL-high 17 touchdowns and WR Wes Welker, who led the league with 122 receptions. Gronkowski is simply a matchup nightmare in the red-zone and practically unguardable one-on-one in the middle of the field, as is Welker on the outside. It will be up to the Giants' pass rush to get pressure on Tom Brady in order to help out New York's secondary in coverage.
Edge: Even

Defense:
Giants:
Ranked 27th in the regular season, New York has definitely picked it up when it has mattered most. In their final two regular season games, and in their three playoff games, all wins, Big Blue's D has been lights out, shutting down the opposition with a ferocious pass rush led by Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora. In order to beat Tom Brady tonight, they have to get the same kind of consistent pressure on him that they did four years ago in Glendale, and force New England to kick field goals instead of score touchdowns in the redzone, as well as maybe force a couple of turnovers to make an impact on the game.
Patriots:
This patchwork defensive unit is nowhere close to the dominant force it was several years ago. However, Bill Belichick has gotten the 31st ranked defense in the regular season to perform in the playoffs, as New England shut down both the Broncos and Ravens in their two playoff wins. Although they will probably give up a lot of yards tonight, the key for the Patriots' defense is to stop the big plays from the Giant wide-receivers and get pressure on Eli Manning and get him uncomfortable early in the game (something the 49ers did fairly well in the NFC Championship). They must also stymie a mediocre Giant running game and force Eli into throwing a lot in the game, and a higher chance of making a mistake, which will give Tom Brady and the offense a short field and easy points on the board.

Edge: Giants

Special Teams

Both teams have mediocre kick and punt returning teams, while both kickers are solid as well.

Edge: Even

Coach:

Tom Coughlin has come a long way in New York, from being a militaristic dictator when he came in 2004 to winning a Super Bowl and taking this team from 7-7 to the Super Bowl. There's no doubt that the bond he has with his team is strong, and the fact that he has performed despite the constant pressure in New York shows how underrated as a coach he truly is. Meanwhile, all Bill Belichick does is win. A fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last decade for his team, which is always the #1 or #2 seed in the conference and has built a tradition of excellence that is unmatched in the league. The job he's done with a patchwork secondary over the last couple of seasons, while evolving his offense to central more on the tight-end has been remarkable. What a coaching matchup.
Slight Edge: Patriots

Bottom Line:

For the Giants to win, they must stick to what has gotten them five straight wins and into this game: big plays in the passing game and a ferocious and constant pass rush that has shut down the opposition's passing game. Eli Manning must continue his outstanding play and match Tom Brady pass for pass as well, as this game could turn into a shootout.
Meanwhile, for the Patriots, they have to limit the big plays of the Giant wide receivers by making open-field tackles. Offensively, they have to finish drives off with touchdowns, whether to the banged-up Rob Gronkowski, in the slot to Wes Welker, or some other unorthodox means Belichick has cooked up.
In the end, I just have to go with the hotter team, and a defense that has been playing lights out to do as it did four years ago in the desert, get a consistent pass rush on Tom Brady, allowing little brother Eli to beat big brother's arch-rival again, in the House that Peyton Built.
My prediction: 3027

Last week's record: 2-0
Season record: 171-95
 

Djokovic Wins Australian Open in Longest Final Ever

Five hours, 53 minutes of championship tennis. In the end, it was the world's #1 who emerged again, as Novak Djokovic outlasted #2 Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in the Australian Open Final to win his fifth career Grand Slam, and third in a row.

Djokovic, coming off a season in which he won three Grand Slams, including beating Nadal in both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals, had hoped for a quicker match, after needing nearly five hours to defeat #4 ranked Andy Murray in the semifinals.

What he and the world got instead was a tennis match with sensational shot after sensational shot. After Nadal won the first set 7-5, Djokovic rallied to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-2 and was up 5-4 in the fourth set before Nadal rallied to win in the tiebreak to force a fifth set. In the fifth, Djokovic finally broke Nadal to go up 6-5, and put a forehand winner away at 1:37 A.M. local time to win his third Australian Open title.

"We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn't be two winners," Djokovic said.

NBA All-Star Voting

NBA All-Star voting ends on Tuesday. So if you haven't voted yet, be sure to vote at NBA.com. The players I voted for are below.

Tigers Land Fielder

Wow. In another deal that was came out of the blue suddenly, the Detroit Tigers have landed free agent 1B Prince Fielder, signing him to a nine year, $214 million deal.

Fielder, 27, hit .299, with 38 home runs, and 120 RBI last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, but was never a strong threat to return to Milwaukee, as he and his mega-agent Scott Boras was going to take the highest offer on the market.

Fielder joins a Detroit Tiger team that was coming off a season in which they advanced to the American League Championship Series behind MVP and Cy Young Justin Verlander and the bats of first baseman Miguel Cabrera and DH Victor Martinez. Martinez was lost for the 2012 season with a torn ACL last week, so Fielder is great replacement for him in the short term. However, long term, this contract, the fourth largest in baseball history, is still insane money, and has little chance of paying off, especially at such a loaded position.

NFL Picks: Conference Championships

01/22

Ravens

vs

Patriots

‎-2:00 PM (CT) on CBS

Classic defense vs. offense battle in the AFC Championship, with Tom Brady and the explosive Patriots offense trying to outplay the rugged Baltimore defense. Key in the match-up will be how much pressure the Ravens can get on Tom Brady to prevent him from getting the ball to his sensational tight-ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Baltimore's offense also has to make big plays in the passing game against a susceptible New England secondary. In the end, I just think New England's offense is too advanced and prolific and will make just enough plays to advance.

01/22

Giants

vs

49ers

‎-5:30 PM (CT) on FOX

New York is the hottest team in the playoffs right now, with QB Eli Manning playing like an All-Pro and a defense that is playing its best football of the season when it counts the most. The key for the Niners to cool off the Giants is the formula they've used the whole season, get takeaways (as they did 5 times last week against the Saints) and play solid defense. Getting pressure on Manning is important, but even more so, will be making tackles in the open field on the explosive New York wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and preventing yards after the catch. But in the end, I think Big Blue's defense, which last week, confused and slowed down MVP Aaron Rodgers, will get pressure on Alex Smith and force San Fran's offense to become one-dimensional to reach Super Bowl XLVI.


Last week: 2-2
Season record: 169-95