Brust, Wisconsin Stun #3 Michigan

And that is why we love college basketball. Moments after Tim Hardaway, Jr. hit an incredible three-pointer to seemingly give the #3 Wolverines the win, Ben Brust throws in a half-court buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Brust hit another three, as Wisconsin upsets #3 Michigan 65-62 in just another game in the crazy Big 10 conference.

Three weeks until March Madness, ladies and gentlemen.

Super Bowl XLVII Preview: Ravens vs. 49ers

It's the Harbowl down in the Big Easy, and here's the breakdown of who's going to win it all.

QB: Joe Flacco vs. Colin Kaepernick

Two quarterbacks that have grown up before our eyes the last couple weeks, with Joe Flacco outgunning Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady (combined 8 TD's, 0 INT!), while Kaepernick ran all over Green Bay, and threw all over Atlanta. Flacco is on fire at the moment, and if he has time to throw in the pocket, he has been hitting his receivers in Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, and Dennis Pitta in stride. The only quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game in his first five seasons in the league, he can take that final step into eternal greatness with a Lombardi Trophy. Meanwhile, Kaepernick, who is just making his 10th career start, has brought another dimension to a dynamic offense with his running ability, off the pistol formation. He'll be trying to do emulate what happened the last time the Super Bowl was in New Orleans, when a guy named Brady, who took over the starting QB job during the middle of the season, won a Super Bowl.

Slight Edge: Ravens

RB: Ray Rice/Bernard Pierce vs. Frank Gore/LaMichael James 

Both teams have outstanding running games, and will look to establish them early on in the game. Baltimore rookie Bernard Pierce has really emerged over the last month (since Jim Caldwell was promoted to OC), and was an integral part of helping the Ravens upset New England in the AFC Championship, when he rushed 9 times for 52 yards). The shifty Ray Rice, who has been shut down in recent weeks, will look to get the ball a lot off short passes, if Flacco gets under pressure from the outstanding 49er pass-rush. San Francisco's dynamic offense will also depend a lot on its running game, with veteran Frank Gore (who played an integral role in the NFC Championship Game) carrying the load behind arguably the best offensive line in football. 

Edge: 49ers
WR/TE: Torrey Smith/Anquan Boldin/Dennis Pitta vs. Michael Crabtree/Randy Moss/Vernon Davis

The Ravens' wide receivers have been sensational during the Ravens' run through the AFC, with a combination of speed and toughness. Torrey Smith and slot receiver Jacoby Jones (who caught the game-tying TD in the final seconds in Denver) are extremely fast and are a threat to score everytime to touch the ball. Meanwhile, Anquan Boldin and TE Dennis Pitta carved up the Patriots' mediocre secondary underneath, and will look to do the same against a San Francisco secondary which gave up 396 passing yards to Atlanta in the NFC title game.

For the 49ers, WR Michael Crabtree has really emerged as a true #1 since Kaepernick took over as quarterback, and he along with will look to open up TE Vernon Davis underneath, who will be a matchup nightmare for the Baltimore defense. Also, look for WR Randy Moss, fresh off declaring himself the best wide receiver who ever played, to try to get behind a Baltimore defense which has been susceptible to the big play at times this year.

Edge: Ravens

Defense:
Ravens:

Ranked just 17th in the regular season, the Baltimore defense finally got healthy for the playoffs, and has been outstanding in their upset wins in Denver and New England. Obviously, the big storyline is LB Ray Lewis, who is trying to the win the Super Bowl in the final game of his outstanding career. While he has been outstanding (leading the playoffs in tackles), I think the key in this game will be the play of NT Haloti Ngata. If he can get in the backfield and neutralize the 49ers' read-option running game, it will allow a ball-hawking and hard hitting secondary led by safety Ed Reed and corner Corey Graham to be more effective. Also, keeping Kaepernick contained in the pocket by getting pass rush from Terrell Suggs will be big for Baltimore.
49ers:
Meanwhile, the 49ers defense, which ranked 3rd in the regular season, has carried this team to New Orleans. With possibly the best front seven in football, led by linebackers Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman, the Ravens might have trouble running the ball effectively tonight. When defending the pass, the Niners' pass rush of Justin and Aldon Smith (who has struggled recently) will look to put pressure on Joe Flacco, who is not as good when under pressure. The secondary, meanwhile, must avoid giving up big plays against the speedy Baltimore receivers, something they did not do against the Falcons.

Edge: 49ers

Special Teams

The Ravens have a Pro Bowl punt returner in Jacoby Jones and a great kicker in Justin Tucker, while the 49ers' David Akers has been extremely shaky this season.

Edge: Ravens

Coach:

The proudest parents in the world tonight will be Mom and Dad Harbaugh, as their sons Jim and John will go head to head for the Lombardi Trophy. 

John, the older and more soft-spoken one, has led Baltimore to the playoffs all of his five years, and does have a 16-6 victory over little brother John in Harbowl I back on Thanksgiving 2011.

Meanwhile, Jim the feisty and more animated brother, has led a remarkable turnover in San Francisco since taking over in 2011 after putting Stanford back on the map. In leading the 49ers to the NFC Championship and Super Bowl in his first two seasons, his biggest/gutsiest call might have been benching Alex Smith for Kaepernick as the starting QB in the middle of the season, a move that has paid instant dividends.

Edge: Even

Bottom Line:

For the Ravens to win, they must protect Joe Flacco and get him time to throw the ball down the field to his wide receivers. Also, unlike Atlanta, they must avoid turnovers and keep playing outstanding defense which got them upset wins in Denver and New England. Getting just enough of a running game to keep the Niners from teeing off on Flacco will be important as well.
Meanwhile, for the 49ers, they have to limit the big plays of the Ravens wide receivers by keeping them in front. Offensively, they should try to control the clock by running the ball, and depending their outstanding defense.
In the end, this is a pick more on gut and heart, rather than reason, as I'll go with the hotter team riding the emotion of the face of a franchise playing in his final football ever.

My prediction:2423

Last week's record: 0-2
Season record: 163-102-1

NFL Picks: Conference Championships

01/20

49ers

vs

Falcons

‎-2:00 PM (CT)‎

This is more a pick based on destiny more than anything else. The Falcons (my new bandwagon team) should have lost last week to Seattle, when they blew a 20-0 halftime lead and had to rally in the final seconds and survive a fail-freeze by Pete Carroll to advance. But they didn't. And even though their defense couldn't stop Russell Wilson in the second half, but I think defensive coordinator Mike Nolan will be able to come up with a game-plan that will force Colin Kaepernick, in his first career road playoff game, into a couple of mistakes, which Matt Ryan and the red-hot Falcons offense will be able to capitalize on.

01/20

Ravens

vs

Patriots

‎-5:30 PM (CT)‎

The way the Patriots took my Texans' best punch and simply dominated the second half with backup offensive skill players makes me think this team is Super Bowl bound. Tom Brady just has too many dangerous weapons in arsenal this year, in Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Shane Vereen, and Stevan Ridley. Granted, I think Joe Flacco and the Ravens have the explosive play-makers to make this game a shootout, like last weekend in Denver. But, in the end, I think the Ravens defense will be overwhelmed, ending the amazing career of Ray Lewis.

Last week: 2-2
Season record: 163-100

NFL Picks: Divisional Playoffs

01/12

Ravens

vs

Broncos

‎-3:30 PM (CT)‎

Denver won their last 11 games of their regular season, behind potential MVP Peyton Manning, an outstanding defense, and the emerging running game of Knowshown Moreno. Would love to see Ray Lewis' career continue one more week, but I don't see Joe Flacco outdueling Manning in Denver.

01/12

Packers

vs

49ers

‎-7:00 PM (CT)‎

A true toss-up, with Aaron Rodgers against the San Francisco defense a great matchup. I think it comes down to the other side of the ball, though, as I like QB Colin Kaepernick's dual threat capability and RB Frank Gore to run wild on a shaky Green Bay defense.

01/13

Seahawks

vs

Falcons

‎-12:00 PM (CT)

Seattle is red hot at the moment, and I just don't see a leaky Atlanta defense stopping Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and company. So, it'll come down to whether or not Julio Jones and Roddy White can get open down the field against the physical corners of Seattle in Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, and whether Matt Ryan can get them the ball. In the end, I don't think they can, and Atlanta gets upset in the postseason again.

01/13

Texans

vs

Patriots

‎-3:30 PM (CT)‎

If this game were in Houston, maybe my hometown Texans would have a chance. But after getting humiliated by a Gronkowski-less Patriot team last month, I just don't see it happening. Even if the defense led by J.J. Watt plays better (which it should), I don't see the Texans' offense keeping up with Tom Brady and New England, especially with a shaky QB Matt Schaub, who has played horrifically for a month now. I just have to hope Arian Foster and the ground game can control the clock, and that the defense forces a couple turnovers on Brady, a scenario I would have to see to believe.

Last week: 4-0
Season record: 161-98

NBA All-Star Voting

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

NFL Picks: Wildcard Weekend

01/05

Bengals

vs

Texans

‎-3:30 PM (CT)‎

Here's to hoping my hometown team shakes off the December rust, establishes the run with Arian Foster early, controls the pace of the game, and eliminates the red-hot Bengals for the second straight year.

01/05

Vikings

vs

Packers

‎-7:00 PM (CT)‎

Adrian Peterson went off in the Vikings win over Green Bay last week. I expect adjustments by the Packers' defense this week, and a more efficient Aaron Rodgers at home to beat their arch-rivals.

01/06

Colts

vs

Ravens

‎-12:00 PM (CT)‎

Andrew Luck's first game in the playoffs against Ray Lewis in his final playoff run. In the end, however, I think Joe Flacco's success against Indy's average secondary will be the difference.

01/06

Seahawks

vs

Redskins

‎-3:30 PM (CT)‎

Marquee matchup of the weekend, in my opinion, with RG3 vs. Russell Willson in a matchup of sensational rookie quarterbacks carrying red-hot football teams. It comes down to defense, and I like Seattle's unit (rode them to a fantasy championship!) much more than the 'Skins'.

Last week: 13-3
Season record: 157-98

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year to all my readers! Here's to much happiness and success in the new year! Here are my Jan. 1 bowl picks.

Gator Mississippi State vs. #20 Northwestern
Heart of Dallas Purdue vs. Oklahoma State
Capital One #7 Georgia vs. #16 Nebraska
Outback #10 South Carolina vs. #18 Michigan
Rose Bowl Wisconsin vs. #6 Stanford
Orange #15 Northern Illinois vs. #12 Florida State

Sadly, no NHL Winter Classic this year, as that league continues its ridiculous lockout.