With two weeks until Selection Sunday what a great weekend for college basketball...

SATURDAY
--I still can’t believe that both No. 1 and No. 2 fell, but that is exactly what went down as Kansas was shocked by Oklahoma State and Kentucky lost to Tennessee. In both cases, teams were served wake-up calls, but that is what can happen in road environments in physical conference battles this time of year.

--Syracuse took advantage of a chance to take over as the team’s top-ranked team as they smoked Villanova at the Carrier Dome in ESPN’s Saturday night feature game. Look for the Orangemen to be No. 1 when the new polls come out on Monday.

--Cincinnati’s chances of making the Dance are getting narrower each time out. They had a chance to win against No. 8 West Virginia, but like so many other games this season the Bearcats found a way to blow it.

SUNDAY
--Xavier needed not one, but two overtimes to beat A-10 foe Richmond at Cintas Center. The Muskies appear set to make the tournament for the 20th time in the last 28 seasons.

--Louisville strengthened its tourney chances by knocking off Connecticut in a buzzer-beater. The Big East road win looks real nice on the Cards’ tournament resume.

--Fourth-ranked Purdue couldn’t take care of No. 14 Michigan State at home in their first game without forward Robbie Hummel, who is out for the season following a knee injury.  One look at the Spartans’ rebound advantage (46 to 20) shows you all you need to know about how important Hummel was to the Boilermakers.

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Though rankings are always nice, I prefer drafting my fantasy teams using a tier system. The idea is to have as many upper tier players at as many positions as possible. It works the best in fantasy baseball as balance is often a key to success. Here are my tiers for starting pitchers for the 2010 season.

TIER 1
Tim Lincecum (SF), Roy Halladay (PHI), Felix Hernandez (SEA)

TIER 2
C.C. Sabathia (NYY), Zach Greinke (KC), Cliff Lee (SEA), Justin Verlander (DET), Dar Haren (ARI)

TIER 3
Johan Santana (NYM), Jon Lester (BOS), Josh Beckett (BOS), Tommy Hanson (ATL), Chris Carpenter (STL), Ubaldo Jimenez (COL), Adam Wainwright (STL), Chad Billingsley (LA), Matt Cain (SF), Cole Hamels (PHI), Yovani Gallardo (MIL)

TIER 4
Clayton Kershaw (LA), Ricky Nolasco (FLA), John Lackey (BOS), James Shields (TB), Ryan Dempster (CHC), Roy Oswalt (HOU), Jered Weaver (ANA), Jake Peavy (CHW), A.J. Burnett (NYY), Rick Porcello (DET), Jair Jurrjens (ATL), Tim Hudson (ATL), Matt Garza (TB), Brett Anderson (OAK), Kevin Slowley (MIN), Wandy Rodriguez (HOU)

TIER 5
Clay Buchholz (BOS), Max Scherzer (DET), Francisco Liriano (MIN), Scott Baker (MIN), Ted Lilly (CHC), David Price (TB), Derek Lowe (ATL), Johnny Cueto (CIN), Daisuke Matsuzaka (BOS), Hiroki Kuroda (LA), Brad Penny (STL), Mark Buerhle (CHW), Joba Chamberlain (NYY), Edwin Jackson (ARI), Joe Saunders (ANA), Justin Masterson (CLE), Scott Kazmir (ANA), Aaron Harang (CIN)

TIER 6
Jonathan Sanchez (SF), Clayton Richard (SD), Bronson Arroyo (CIN), Ryan Rowland-Smith (SEA), Randy Wolf (MIL), Andy Pettitte (NYY), Joe Blanton (PHI), John Maine (NYM), J.A. Happ (PHI), Stephen Strasburg (WAS), Kevin Correia (SD), Shaun Marcum (TOR), Pedro Martinez (PHI), Joel Pinerio (STL), Sean Gallagher (SD), Jorge De La Rosa (COL), Jake Westbrook (CLE), Mike Pelfery (NYM), Nick Blackburn (MIN), Kevin Milwood (BAL), Chris Volstad (FLA), Ian Snell (SEA), Gil Meche (KC), Aaron Cook (COL), Jeff Nieman (TB), Manny Parra (MLW),

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Man, just when I was starting to believe in the Purdue Boilermakers as being a legit No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCCA tournament, they lose their do-it-all forward Robbie Hummel for the season.

Hummel, who is second on the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounds (6.9 rpg), tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will not return this year.

Purdue still managed to squeeze out a 59-58 victory over Minnesota, but will have plenty to prove over the last few games and the Big Ten tournament to have a shot at getting the top seed.

REMAINING SCHEDULE:
2/28 - No. 14 Michigan State
3/3 - Indiana
3/6 - at Penn State

The true test will come against Michigan State on Sunday. The Boilermakers won 76-64 on February 9 at East Lansing. If they get past that game it should be smooth sailing against Indiana and Penn State, who have combined to post a 5-15 record inside of league play.

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Just in case you forgot...

The NFL announced last year at their owners' meetings that the 2010 NFL Draft will take place over the course of three days this year.

The first round will take place on Thursday, April 22, beginning at 7:30 PM ET. The NFL is looking to take advantage of the fact that more people watch TV during the prime time hours on Thursday night than any other time.

The second and third rounds will begin at 6:30 PM ET on Friday, April 23. The final four round of the draft are now scheduled for Saturday, April 24, beginning at 10:00 AM ET.

The new format will likely result in a few more trades as teams will now have long breaks between rounds 1 and 2 and again between rounds 3 and 4. The NFL is clearly hoping to make the draft an even bigger TV event than it already is.

NFL 2010 nfl draft

from Bengals.com...

The Bengals drew the first marquee date of the NFL season Wednesday when the NFL announced they are playing in the Aug. 8 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio against the Cowboys at 8 p.m. on NBC. It is the first appearance in the league’s traditional preseason kickoff game for the Bengals since they used it to start their run to the 1988 AFC title.

Both franchises are celebrating inductions that take place the day before at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Former Bengals head coach and long-time assistant Dick LeBeau takes his spot 32 years after he became eligible. Meanwhile, 41-year-old Emmitt Smith, the former Cowboys running back and NFL’s all-time leading rusher, celebrates his first-ballot election.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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from USAToday.com...

With Opening Day a little more than five weeks away, the Reds' roster is taking shape.

PROJECTED LINEUP
1. CF Drew Stubbs
2. SS Orlando Cabrera
3. 1B Joey Votto
4. 2B Brandon Phillips
5. 3B Scott Rolen
6. RF Jay Bruce
7. C Ramon Hernandez
8. LF Chris Dickerson

There probably will be some type of platoon in left field. Phillips is not a prototypical cleanup hitter, but it worked well late last season with Rolen hitting fifth and Phillips fourth.

PROJECTED RESERVES
INF Aaron Miles
C Ryan Hanigan
OF Laynce Nix
OF Jonny Gomes
INF Paul Janish
OF Wladimir Balentien

The bench isn't particularly strong, but RHP Micah Owings — a career .300 hitter with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 170 at-bats — will be used as a pinch hitter, if he's on the roster.

COMPLETE ROSTER BREAKDOWN

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Aroldis Chapman impressed in his first live batting practice session on Wednesday (CNATI.com):

MLB cincinnati reds, aroldis chapman

1.) BALANCE – Building a solid fantasy rotation requires balance. Just like poker, an ace gets beat by four-of-a-kind. Grabbing Roy Halladay alone isn’t going to solidify your staff enough. Drafting in tiers is recommended. A fantasy staff shouldn’t be much different than a major league staff. You need a No. 1 guy that you can count on at top. Reliable options to fill out the middle and then some high-upside arms at the back end.

2.) KNOW YOUR SCORING SYSTEM – Every fantasy league is different. Whether you play in a true roto-style format that relies on certain categories or a head-to-head format that scores points directly for stats, understanding your scoring system fully is often the difference between winning and losing. Once you factor in all the parameters of your league you will more adequately be able to rank the value of players.

3.) STARTERS BEFORE RELIEVERS – Scoring formats always apply, but in general it is always better to have strength in your starting pitching than to have stud closers. In most drafts closers won’t start going off the board until the fourth or fifth round. I would lock up at least two to three starters before considering your relief pitching.

4.) ENVIROMENTAL INFLUENCES – Analyzing a pitcher’s ability is only part of prognosticating success. You also need to consider the league they play in. What do the other teams fare? Whether or not the pitcher’s home park is hitter friendly or pitcher friendly is a definite factor as well as the team they play on. Will they get run support? Is there gold glove caliber players behind them? When stuck between two pitchers these rules should settle all tiebreakers.

5.) BEWARE OF ROOKIES – There’s no doubt that young arms arise every fantasy season that make an impact. However, more often than not young pitchers have limited pitch counts and experience a fair share of growing pains. This results in low inning counts and some inconsistent efforts. It’s not bad to have a young arm or two in your rotation, just don’t bank them alone.

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There's a lot of talk of Terrell Owens becoming a Bengal when the NFL free agency period begins in March. While I don't believe that would be the worst thing ever for the team, I believe there's another wide receiver out there who is younger, probably comes cheaper and who could really solve some of the Bengals offensive woes. That player is former Bengal Kevin Walter, who has been a member of the Houston

Texans since 2007. While Walter is not the name or Pro Bowl-caliber athlete that TO is (or was), he would make the offense immediately better.

Let's look at the perks. Walter is only 28 years old, which is 8 years younger than TO. Walter is also a large target. He is 6'3" and would be the second tallest player amongst the Bengals wide receivers (second behind newly signed Matt Jones). Walter, who is only considered a second wide receiver, shouldn't get a huge offer from any NFL team and should come at an affordable price, which is music to the miserly Mike Brown's ears. TO, on the other hand, will demand a high contract with the devil himself, Drew Rosenhaus as his agent. Plus, Walter comes with none of the extra "baggage" that TO brings to the table. TO might have Ochocinco's endorsement, but push comes to shove, Walter's existence would make Chad a better player.

Walter, to me, could fill the role that TJ Houshmanzadeh filled so admirably for the Bengals and that they so desperately missed this year - possession receiver and red zone target. With Chad Ochocinco on the outside, obtaining double coverage, Walter could open the middle and short yardage possessions and help the team move the chains. This gives Carson Palmer more options. Add in a developing Andre Caldwell and throw Matt Jones into the deep threat/Chris Henry role and Walter immediately makes the Bengals better.

Send Lavernues Coles packing, replace him with Walter, resign Reggie Kelly at tight end and all of a sudden, the offense starts to resemble its once-potent self. Hopefully, Chase Coffman gets on the field and he would also become a nice receiving threat and red zone target. So, with just one addition, and a couple players back from oblivion (Coffman) and injury (Kelly) and the signing of Walter and the Bengals could improve on their offensive output. Now, that being said, I would still pursue a rookie WR in the upcoming NFL draft to fill the role that Jerome Simpson is clearly incapable of handling.

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from Philly.com:

The Eagles announced today that they plan to release Brian Westbrook, one of their all-time greats.

The 30-year-old running back's decorated career with the Eagles is now officially over after eight seasons.

"This is a tough day for the Philadelphia Eagles," head coach Andy Reid said. "Anytime you have to release a player like Brian Westbrook, that’s not an easy thing to do -- neither for us or for Brian. I had an opportunity to talk to Brian this morning about the situation and inform him that we were going in a different direction. Brian was tremendous with it and very professional with it."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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After nine years the San Diego Chargers parted ways with running back LaDainian Tomlinson when they cut the veteran on Monday. The franchise was due to pay him a $2 million roster bonus and a $5 million base salary this coming season.

Tomlinson, who will be 31 before the kickoff to the 2010 season, finished with 730 yards on 223 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per carry, all career lows and was hampered by injuries.

He ranks eighth on the league’s all-time rushing list with 12,490 yards. His 138 career rushing touchdowns rank second, and his 153 total touchdowns rank third.

Look for the Chargers to draft a running back and to potentially add more to its backfield depth during free agency.  Darren Sproles, who is a restricted free agent that will command $7 million to retain, appears to be the team’s top RB option for the time being.

Where will L.T. land, in anywhere? Expect to see him show up somewhere, but only in a limited role. Tomlinson is on the record as saying that his top remaining goal is "to win a championship".

Here are a few places that make sense to me: Bears, Eagles, Giants, Patriots, Steelers, Texans, and Titans.

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NFL free agency is never simple and this year and all of the extra baggage of the existing labor agreement expiring has added even more wrinkles.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer broke down what it all means for Bengals fans. Here’s a look at the teams unrestricted free agents:

-PK Shayne Graham, FB Jeremi Johnson, RB Larry Johnson, S Roy Williams, OG Bobbie Williams, TE Reggie Kelly, DT Tank Johnson

MY TAKE: The Bengals would be wise to get Bobbie Williams and Tank Johnson resigned. Beyond that, losing any of the aforementioned would not be a great loss.

COMPLETE LIST OF NFL UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

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Left for dead just a few weeks ago, the Connecticut Huskies have worked their way back into NCAA Tournament conversation following three straight wins.

The latest came on Monday night when they knocked off No. 8 West Virginia 73-62 at home in a Big Monday match-up.

The win is enough for ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi to declare Huskies as one of his last four in.

Barring a stumble over one of their last three games, the Huskies appear to have punched their ticket.

Here is Lunardi's latest through Monday's games:

LAST FOUR IN
Connecticut
UAB
Rhode Island
Dayton

FIRST FOUR OUT
Saint Mary's
San Diego State
Mississippi State
Cincinnati

NEXT FOUR OUT
Ole Miss
Memphis
Arizona State
Charlotte

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from CNATI.com...

Jonny Gomes agreed to a contract Monday morning and will sign, pending his physical. Gomes drove from his Phoenix-area home to the complex, went to the clubhouse to greet his teammates and then take the physical.

It's a one-year Major League contract with a team option, Walt Jocketty said.

Gomes, 29, played in 98 games for the Reds in 2009, hitting .267 with 20 home runs and 51 RBIs. Gomes was arbitration eligible, but the Reds declined to offer him arbitration in December.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

MLB cincinnati reds, jonny gomes

Cole Hamels (PHI) – While I don’t know if he’ll ever return to what we saw two post-seasons ago, Hamels is far too talented to let last year’s debacle scare you. He should fall down enough to be well worth the investment you will make on him this time around. However, don’t bank on him as your ace rather a No. 2 or No. 3 with high ups

Max Scherzer (DET) – Lost in the Curtis Granderson to the Yankees’ trade was the fact the Tigers landed this hard-throwing right-hander. His strikeout ratio is enough to make him fantasy worthy all by itself and now he gets the chance to improve upon it. My bet is he will.

Jonathan Sanchez (SF) – He may only be the No. 4 starter in a solid Giants’ rotation, but Sanchez has shown flashes of brilliance.  His stuff is good, now he just needs to cut down on walks and become more efficient. He makes for a nice late-round rotation filler in any format.

Others that will provide good value: Ubaldo Jimenez (COL), Chad Billingsley (LAD), Luke Hochevar (KC), Johnny Cueto (CIN), Ricky Nolasco (FLA), Carl Pavano (MIN), and Matt Garza (TB).

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