Wednesday January 13

UVA Men’s Basketball: versus #18 Georgia Tech

The UVA men’s basketball team (9-4, 1-0) was written off at the start of the season, predicted to finish eleventh or twelfth (out of 12) in the ACC by most “experts.” While that still could happen, I do not think it will (and as of press time they were tied for 1^st, this will mark the only time that will be true so Cavalier fans enjoy it while it lasts). I also do not think anyone expected the new coach Tony Bennett to be able to instill his defense first attitude so quickly. Bennett did inherit a young team with lots of potential, but they were certainly not used to doing anything but living and dying by the three, let alone defense. Even with all the adjustments on the fly both the team and the coach have had to make, they have only let up over 70 points once, and that was in the first game. Albeit not the strongest out of conference schedule, opposing teams are averaging only 59 points a game against the Cavaliers. In the Cavs four losses this year, three have them come by 5 or less points, including a tip-in as time expired loss at Auburn. I would not be surprised if the Cavs finish 6-10 in the ACC and beat UNC-Wilmington to finish off Bennett’s first regular season with a winning record of 15-14. The future is further brightened by the fact that we already have five recruits signed for next year headlined by two ESPN U top 100 players.

In the Cavaliers second game against a ranked opponent this season; they take on a Georgia Tech team very different than last year. After finishing last in the ACC, Georgia Tech had a recruiting class for the ages as they got four ESPN U top 100 players headlined by the #1 ranked Power Forward (and #2 ranked overall) Derrick Favors. Favors (11.7ppg, 8.7rpg) and Gani Lawal (15.4ppg, 9.4rpg) will be the x-factors in this game as the undersized Cavaliers will have to throw every “big” forward at them plus guards to stand a chance at stopping either around the basket. Though the future is getting brighter for UVA men’s basketball, barring the best game multiple UVA players have ever had, expect Georgia Tech to take care of business like they did against Duke last weekend.

Friday January 15

NBA: Phoenix Suns at Atlanta Hawks

Yes, you are reading correctly. The NBA game of the week is the Phoenix Suns at the Atlanta Hawks. This game will be a fast paced and high scoring, pitting the highest scoring team per game in the West against the highest scoring team per game in the East. Better yet, the Suns, though 24-14 and very much a playoff contender, allow the second most points per game. Both teams are currently sitting fourth in their respective conferences and will not be playing back to back, assuring a full lineup of stars playing almost the whole game. One interesting point to note, while both teams play up-tempo basketball, the average age of the starting lineup for the Hawks is below 26 while the starting lineup for the Suns is slightly over 30. Will youth or experience prevail? Given it is the middle of an east coast trip for the Suns versus a home stand for the Hawks, expect the Hawks to take this one with both teams scoring over 100 points.

Saturday January 16

Premiership: Manchester City at Everton

In the past month, Manchester City have fired Mark Hughes and brought in former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini and former Arsenal and Inter Milan defensive midfielder Patrick Vieira. Though I never agreed with the hiring of Hughes to right the City ship to begin with, his firing was done after a win and after he was doing a respectable job; losing only twice in seventeen Premiership games as well as guiding them to the Carling Cup Semifinals. Hughes had to do all of that with a bunch of players that were bought in the past six months and for the most part had never played with each other. I wish Hughes all the best and do not think it will be too long before we see him at the helm of a Premiership or Championship side. Since Mancini took over, Man City have won four straight (three in the league, one the FA Cup fourth round matchup) and allowed only one goal. Mancini also made sure to bring in Vieira to have more leadership in a locker room full of young talent with no real leader. They will look to take their momentum to Goodison Park.

Everton on the other hand, have done very little this year differently from the past three where they finished in the top 6 (good enough to qualify for a spot in the former UEFA Cup/ present Europa League) apart from winning as many games. They started the season losing three of their first four and struggled against weaker opponents. After a heartbreaking loss to cross-town rivals Liverpool at the end of November, Everton seem to have gotten back on track. They have an unbeaten streak of six Premiership games which included draws with four teams (1^st place Chelsea, 3^rd place Arsenal, 5^th place Tottenham, 7^th place Birmingham City) in the top 7. Everton has just brought in USA Captain Landon Donovan to shore up their midfield and if he continues to play like he did against Arsenal they will look like geniuses. Expect a low scoring, hard fought contest ending in a draw or another heartbreaking loss for Everton.

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Divisional Round, Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints

I am sure by now every Packer fan is sick of hearing about it, but last week’s Wild-Card matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals was phenomenal. It re-wrote the record books with the amount of points scored, first downs reached, and total yards accumulated. A football fan without a team in the playoffs might (with good reason) ask themselves if that was the climax of the playoffs (with maybe only the commercials of the Super Bowl enough to make it the climax). I am not of this belief, in fact I think this game between the Cardinals and the Saints might be an even better battle of the passing game versus terrible secondaries. Though I do not agree with benching starts the last two games of the season (a discussion for another day), the three game losing streak to end the season for the Saints, who could have gone undefeated, should not matter. That said I do think it will take a quarter to a quarter and a half for Drew Brees to be as accurate as usual and his receivers to be in sync, something that would not have happened if they did not bench the starters so much. I think that the Cardinals left it all on the field against the Packers though, were lucky to pull out the victory, and can only keep pulling off these upsets so many times before they meet a team too good for them to upset. The Saints are that team and will be more than well rested. Expect the Saints to crush the Cardinals in a game that could see another 90+ combined points scored.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Divisional Round, Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts

Like the Cardinals, the Ravens are trying to repeat last year’s upset specials. Again the Ravens were the lowest seed in the playoffs and again they take on the number 1 seed in the Divisional Round. This time though, they face four time MVP Peyton Manning (as opposed to Kerry Collins) and indoors. Though I would love to see the gritty Ravens defense stop the Colts like they did against the Wes Welker-less Patriots, I just do not see it happening. The Colts passing game was the second best overall this season in yards per game and the Ravens passing defense was only tied for eighth best. Expect the Colts to win this game, but not in a blowout.

Sunday January 17

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Divisional Round, Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings

The Dallas Cowboys have their first playoff win in 14 years under their belt, but they did it at home. Can they win on the road? Tony Romo is not the epitome of “clutch” but his performance against the fairly strong Eagles Defense, and more importantly his lack of mistakes, will need to be recreated against the much peskier Vikings defense. Felix Jones will also need to have another breakout game. On the defensive end, neutralizing Adrian Peterson will be key. If the run game is not working, Brett Favre does not have it in him to beat you if he has to pass over 40 times. In three of the last four games where Favre passed over 40 times, the Vikings lost. Weather will not be a factor in the dome. Given the last three games of the regular season and the destruction of the Eagles last week, I expect the red hot Cowboys to beat the Vikings who have struggled as of late.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Divisional Round, New York Jets at San Diego Chargers

I still cannot get over the fact the only New York football team in the playoffs are the Jets with a first year quarterback and first year coach. Yet again, it still should not be a surprise though, given that the Jets had the best passing defense and the best rushing offense during the regular season. One must also note that the Jets offense would be nothing without UVA alums starting running back Thomas Jones and Offensive Tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson. While the San Diego Chargers are on an 11 game winning streak and are my prediction for winning the Super Bowl, they have the second worst rushing offense and have the 20^th best rushing defense. If the Jets can shut down the Chargers’ 5^th best passing offense, do not be surprised if the Jets pull off the unthinkable. If Sanchez can limit his mistakes to a maximum of one interception or fumble and pass with such accuracy as last week, the Jets may just be the Cardinals/Ravens of last year. Though Darrelle Revis is arguably the best cornerback in the league and will shut down Vincent Jackson, he won’t be covering Antonio Gates who will be the x-factor in this game. Expect the Chargers to pull out a close one like they did against the Giants earlier in the regular season.

College Football: Fiesta Bowl – #4 Boise State versus #6 Texas Christian University

In my soon to be released article entitled “Surprises and Disappointments of the Bowl Season” I will expand upon my disgust for what the BCS selection committee did in choosing these two teams to play each other. For now I will limit myself to this; more and more people want a playoff system and this game where the BCS has isolated its “mid-major” threats to protect the BCS “major” conferences should make everyone want a playoff system more.

In terms of the game, although robbed of the national stage with which to show they are just as good as the best of the “major” conferences, this will still be an exciting matchup between two high scoring undefeated teams. WAC Champion Boise State will look for revenge after Mountain West Champion TCU just edged them out of an undefeated season last year, 17-16 in the Poinsettia Bowl. TCU’s defense is one of the best in the nation though, leading many to see TCU as the favorite by around 8 points.

This marks the first time that two undefeated teams played in a BCS Bowl other than the National Championship and will act as the “mid-major” National Championship. It is only too bad that the winner doesn’t get to face the winner of the “major” National Championship between Alabama and Texas. Though it should be a close and exciting game, expect fewer points than usual from each team as TCU for the second year in a row stops Boise State from perfection.

January 5^th

NBA: Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers

Usually the best team in the NBA versus the eleventh best (seventh best in the west) is not a reason to be included on What to Watch, but this matchup is different. After taking the Lakers to seven games in last year’s playoffs, the Rockets let Ron Artest leave and signed as his replacement the Lakers then starting Small Forward Trevor Ariza. In November of this season, the Rockets took the Lakers to overtime, eventually losing by one in Houston. Eleven days later, they pulled off the unthinkable, beating the Lakers by ten at the Staples Center. Additionally, Ariza, who is six years younger, has averaged more points, rebounds, steals, blocks, free throws, and minutes per game than Artest. Expect a close one but for the Lakers to yet again ruin Ariza’s return to LA. This game is also perfect to watch for those of us who will be bored by the Orange Bowl and craving a sport fix.

College Football: Orange Bowl – #10 Iowa versus #9 Georgia Tech

In what many see as the most boring of the BCS bowl games, the triple-option offense of ACC Champion Georgia Tech will take on the Slow Ten’s second best team, and BCS at-large bid receiving, Iowa. With starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi and running back Adam Robinson well rested and back from injury, Iowa may make a game of it. Possession will be a key to victory in this game. Iowa will need to stop the run and Georgia Tech will have to make sure the “cardiac kids” are not discounted at the end, even if the Yellow Jackets are up big. Expect the Rambling Wreck to run all over the Hawkeyes.

January 7^th

College Football: National Championship – #2 Texas versus #1 Alabama

Easily the most exciting and star-studded matchups of the BCS Bowl games, the National Championship pits two of the most recognizable high-profile programs in all of college football against each other. Big 12 Champion Texas has the winningest starting quarterback in the history of college football in Colt McCoy. SEC Champion Alabama has Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. Alabama’s defense has stopped every team it has faced this year including the high scoring all-american filled Florida Gators though, leading me to believe that if Texas does not come with a varied game plan on offense they could get embarrassed. That said, Texas had the best defense against the run (Alabama’s bread and butter) in the nation. What gives remains to be seen. Expect a game that lives up to the hype of two undefeated teams from the top two conferences in the nation playing in the National Championship. That said, only one team can win, and my prediction is that after an 18 year wait, Alabama is finally ready to be named National Champions.

January 9^th

UVA Men’s Basketball: at North Carolina State

UVA Men’s Basketball ended the year looking good and giving Cavalier fans hope for the future and faith in Tony Bennett. That said, with the usual set of cupcakes we play behind us, the generally unforgiving ACC regular season schedule begins at North Carolina State. Neither of these teams has really faced that much of a challenge, with UVA being just edged out by Stanford, Penn State, and Auburn while NC State was barely beaten by Florida, Arizona, and Wake Forest. Luckily for the Cavaliers, the Wolfpack do not have a real big man presence and also rely on a lot of threes, making this more of a guard and forward game where the team with the better shooting from beyond the arc will win. If Landesberg can step up again like he did against UAB expect the Cavaliers to start their conference schedule undefeated, if not, may the best 3-point shooting team win.

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Wild-card Round, Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

Unless the Washington Deadskins were involved in this game somehow, I cannot think of a game where I want both teams to lose more. Being a Giants game, I still cannot get over how our season crumbled at the end, how both these teams and the Jets made the playoffs, yet we did not. What a last year at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands. A repeat of last Sunday’s matchup between the two teams (oddly a recurrent theme amongst three of the four wildcard games) in the same location. After 14 years without a playoff win, I think Tony Romo and the Cowboys will finally do it. Beating the Eagles twice in the regular season was no easy task, and beating the playoffs won’t be either, but all streaks have to come to an end eventually (except for maybe the Cubs not winning the World Series). Expect a closer game than last week but for the Cowgirls to prevail.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Wild-card Round, New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

The Jets are the biggest surprise team in the playoffs, but make no mistake the team with the rookie coach, rookie quarterback, the NFL’s best defense, and the NFL’s top rushing offense (led by UVA alum Thomas Jones) will not be backing down without a serious fight. Though not much should be taken of their 37-0 annihilation of the Bengals this past Sunday in the last game at Giants Stadium, it should serve as a confidence booster for the fearless Jets as they head to Cincinnati. Though I do not think the Jets will be this year’s Arizona Cardinals (who last year at 9-7 ended up winning three straight before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl), I am not counting them out in this game. Cincinnati’s achievements should not be passed over though. Going undefeated in the division with the reigning Super Bowl Champions and another Playoff team is no walk in the park. Doing it after a 4-11-1 season is equally if not more impressive. Keep in mind starting quarterback Carson Palmer has had previous injury problems that did not affect him this season and that the team played well below their potential last season. Regardless of the past, all that matters is how each team plays Saturday. The colder it is the more likely the Jets will win with their superior defense and run game. Expect a close one and maybe, just maybe, the Jets will survive to play another week.

January 10^th

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Wild-card Round, Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

While this season has been all about Brett Favre, the Packers have quietly gotten things done and finished the season only one game behind the Vikings. Aaron Rodgers has put up similar numbers to Brett Favre (with a little more yards, three fewer touchdowns) while getting sacked about twice as much and without the best running back in the league to take the pressure off of him (or 6 more pro-bowl players surrounding him for that matter). It has earned Rodgers a pro-bowl invite to back-up starter Drew Brees and of course, Brett Favre. The Cardinals on the other hand, yet again won the worst division in the NFL, the NFC West. This time though, no one will be sleeping on them, especially not the Packers. Do not be surprised to see a repeat this Sunday of this past Sunday’s crushing of the Cardinals by the Packers in Arizona.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Wild-card Round, Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This game is overshadowed by the fact that Wes Welker, the all-important receiver for the Patriots is out for the playoffs. He is star quarterback Tom Brady’s number one target and will be sorely missed. Given Randy Moss’ string of not-too-inspired performances, this could be just the kind of thing that leads to an upset by the Ravens. The curse of David Tyree continues to haunt Bill Belichick’s Patriots. First it was Tom Brady’s injury, now this. The once almost perfect Patriots are now two years older. The Ravens will look to avenge their week 4 loss in Foxborough and might just get it. Expect a tight game, but if Moss can get his act together, expect the home crowd and Brady to do the rest of the work and at least get one win this playoffs for the Patriots.

Monday September 14

MLB: Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants

With only 18 games left in the regular season, for the third week running in What to Watch for this Week in the World of Sports there has been a three game series between two playoff hopefuls. The circumstances of both the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants have changed since last week though, with the Giants losing four of their last six (including two of three to the National League West leading Los Angeles Dodgers) and the Rockies winning five of their last seven; giving them a four and a half game cushion in the NL Wild Card race. Erasing a four and a half game lead is no easy task but there is no quicker way for the Giants to do it than to sweep the Rockies. With similar ends to each of their seasons (both teams play 9 games against under .500 teams and three games against the Dodgers), if the Giants do not win at least two of three against the Rockies, if not all three for the sweep, they will be fighting an uphill battle to secure a playoff spot. Look for the Giants to take two of three but for the Rockies to still win the Wild Card.

Wednesday September 16

UEFA Champions League Soccer: Barcelona at Inter Milan

The UEFA Champions League group stages are finally upon us and what better way to start it off than with the reigning Champions League, Spanish Primera Liga and Spanish Copa del Rey Winners Barcelona playing reigning Italian Serie A Winners Internazionale (more commonly known as Inter Milan). Though neither side will have trouble getting out of the group stages (as the other two teams in group F Dynamo Kiev and FK Rubin Kazan will not pose threats to such big soccer clubs), finishing first in the group will be of the utmost importance with the second place team having to play a cross over match against a group winner who could potentially be Manchester United, Chelsea or any one of the other big European clubs in the Champions League. This game will also be intriguing as in the summer transfer window these clubs swapped strikers with Samuel Eto’o now at Inter and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barca. Even with the riotous home crowd backing them, expect Inter Milan to be outclassed by this seemingly unstoppable Barcelona side.

Thursday September 17

College Football: #14 Georgia Tech at #20 Miami

Last week’s Miami – Florida State game lived up to its billing as the exciting high scoring game went down to the last second literally, with Miami coming away with a solid road win. The intense start to the season continues for Miami as they play another top Atlantic Coast Conference team, this time in the form of a Georgia Tech team that fired on all cylinders in the first half before almost losing to a talented and resilient Clemson. The ACC’s reputation will again be on the line at this game as the ACC is still at rock bottom with another FCS team James Madison giving a serious scare to Maryland in taking them to overtime. Beyond the reputation, this game will also have serious implications for the ACC Coastal Division title with it seemingly going to be a close race between Virginia Tech, UNC, Georgia Tech and Miami (Duke and UVA have no shot). Another close game is in the cards; with the Hurricanes likely to continue their road to reputational redemption with another huge ACC win.

Friday September 18

UVA women’s Volleyball: Marriott Cavalier Invitational (all at home in Memorial Gymnasium); versus Virginia Tech (Friday September 18^th at 7pm), versus Villanova (Saturday September 19^th at 1pm), and versus Albany (Saturday September 19^th at 7pm)

After a tough weekend at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln Nebraska saw the UVA Volleyball team lose to #5 Nebraska and #8 UCLA and beat BYU, the Cavaliers come back to Charlottesville to host yet another tournament. This time they are not playing two top ten teams in the land of corn but instead are starting their ACC campaign against rival Virginia Tech, as well as playing nonconference teams Villanova and Albany. Though their record of 5-4 doesn’t show it, this UVA women’s team is very strong and has played stronger competition than usual in their lead up to conference play which will prove crucial in big ACC games later on this season. With this “baptism by fire” over with, UVA fans should get excited for some hokie stuffing and crucial wins from the Volleyball team this weekend. This game is also an Orange Passport Event so, if for no other reason, go because this is going to be a good year for UVA basketball.

Saturday September 19

College Football: #19 Nebraska at #13 Virginia Tech

Starting off any season against a top 5 ranked opponent is never easy, thus Virginia Tech is looking to continue to right it ship after a hard loss to Alabama. This past weekend saw them dismantle Marshall and rest assured Frank Beamer will have his team ready for anything Nebraska throws at them. After two easy warm up games, this will be a huge task for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they play at a hostile Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. With Oklahoma and Kansas looming later on in their schedule, any and all quality non-conference wins could make all the difference in what bowl game Nebraska will get invited to. Though UVA fans (myself included) would love to see another team in Virginia struggle, no one should be surprised if Nebraska is given quite a wake up call as the Hokies whip them.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

NFL: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Any NFC East game is always a good game to watch because, regardless of the actual talent on each team, the games are always close. This past weekend was a good example of this with the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins playing quite an exciting game even though the vastly superior Giants should have crushed the Redskins. This weekend should be no different in excitement, with both the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys starting off their seasons with wins, not to mention this will mark the first regular season game at new Cowboys Stadium. Watch this game to see many punts hit the 60 yard wide video screen and the Giants pull out a crucial away game victory.

Premiership Soccer: Manchester City at Manchester United

Not many people, if anyone, could have predicted that after 4 or 5 games in the premiership Manchester City and Manchester United would both have 12 points respectively (Writer’s note: In soccer it is 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, no points for a loss). Manchester City has continued to impress with their team trying to prove that money can indeed win championships. Though three of their four games came against very weak opponents, wins are wins and their most recent win 4-2 over Arsenal without Argentinean International Carlos Tevez or Brazilian International Robinho is nothing to scoff at. Manchester United on the other hand is playing up to expectations, though an early season mishap saw them shockingly lose to Premiership new boys Burnley at the Turf Moor. Though this derby (Writer’s note: a match between two soccer clubs in the same city) in the past has been dominated by United, look for City to give them everything they can handle in a high scoring match that will most likely end in a draw.