By Huddle Up Sports
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. And yes, we know fantasy baseball doesn’t compare to fantasy football. But if you’ve never given it a chance, do so, it’s a blast! Huddle Up Sports is going to help the beginners out a little by giving you our player’s rank by position. (We really don’t want to, because the Sharpe Shooter will steal all Huddle players). But we’re good enough at this as well as handicapping so we’ll just adapt. With that said, here is our list for catchers:
By Mike Wynn Sports
The ACC Tournament figures to be a two horse race. Duke and Maryland the regular season co-champs at 13-3 seem to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league and should be on a collision course to meet on Selection Sunday. Lurking in the wings are upset hopefuls Clemson, Florida St, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. So let’s take a look at these teams and some reasons to like or dislike their chances.
By Razor Sharp Sports
OK, so I am sitting here watching the Big East Tournament and I realize we are just 1 week away from the “So Called” start of the NCAA tournament, though we all know it really begins next Thursday. Either way, I started crunching some numbers and wanted to throw them at you. Taking a look at the last 5 years in the first round of the NCAA tournament, there are some very interesting betting trends that pop up. Lets take a look at some of these.
By High Stakes Syndicate
Come Sunday evening your 2010 NCAA Championship hopefuls will whittled down to just 65 qualifiers, neatly sorted into their four regional brackets. The NCAA Tournament may rightfully be – as many claim – the country’s most exciting sporting event of the year but, for our money, we’ll put Championship Week right on par with The Big Dance.
By Mike Wynn Sports
Kansas travels to Columbia Missouri Saturday to take on the Missouri Tigers in what figures to be a interesting game. Kansas fresh off their big home win over Kansas St has now secured the regular season Big12 title and most likely a number 1 seed on Selection Sunday. Missouri Tigers at 21-8 overall and 10-5 in conference are a lock for the NCAA tournament but a big win here could improve their seeding dramatically. Throw in the fact that this has been a pretty heated rivalry and this game has the makings of a classic. So let’s take a look at both schools starting with the visiting Kansas Jayhawks.
By #1 Sports
The Bruins (13-15, 8-8 PAC 10) reached a new low with a 68-70 loss a Pauley Pavilion Saturday to last place Oregon and the finger pointing is well under way. Coach Howland has publicly criticized himself for not being careful enough about evaluating the character of his recruits – namely sophomore starting PG Anderson (5.8p, 1.8r, 89 assists) who committed a late turnover against the Ducks, 6′9″ senior F Nikola Dragovic (11.6p, 4.4r) who has been an embarrassment on and off the court, and 6′8″ sophomore F/C Drew Gordon (11.2p, 5.3r) who transfered 6 games into the season.
By The Vegas Steamline
So we are just a couple of days from the closing of the 2012 Winter Olympics and the NHL gets back into full swing tonight. First let me say, what an incredible hockey game and for that matter, Olympics! Not since the 1980 Miracle on Ice has so many people watched a hockey game of any sort. Now the NHL and Commissoner Gary Bettman are talking about not allowing NHL players to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They say it cost themselves too much money to shut down there league. Are you kidding me!?!? This was the greatest advertisement and publicity your sport could have. Instead of moving away from the Olympics, you maybe should more closer.
By Razor Sharp Sports
Well the time is finally here. After 4 months of college basketball games, it is time to get down to the nitty gritty and start the tournament action! Each and every year the discussion comes up about which teams are the #1s, which teams are on the bubble, who is in and who is out, should they add more teams to the NCAA tournament. I am going to take a few minutes to hit some of these topics along with some others that you might not always hear. You may not like everything I have to say, or you may agree whole-heartedly with me. Either way, I encourage you to comment on this article and let everyone know how you feel.
by Jim Feist
Tournament play is on the horizon! It’s the start of a wild few weeks with conference tournament play helping to whittle the field. In the Big 10, Ohio State made the title game three years with Greg Oden while Michigan State won it all in 2000. Here’s a look at some of the top teams of the Big 10 looking to make a similar run.
Purdue: The Boilermakers have been a streaky team, starting 14-0, losing three in a row, then ripping off another long win streak. Purdue’s Big Three has proven to be difficult to contain, with junior guard E’Twaun Moore (17 ppg) running the backcourt, and 6-8 junior Robbie Hummel (15.8 ppg, 7 rpg) and 6-10 junior JaJuan Johnson (14.8 ppg, 7 rpg) pounding the glass.
Purdue has been great on the road because of a fierce defense, third in the Big 10 in points allowed and second in field goal shooting (38%) allowed. They are also reliable from the line, second in free throw shooting (75%). If a game is close, it’s nice to have a confident team at the charity stripe. The Boilermakers started 2-0 SU/ATS as a dog.
Michigan State: The Spartans have exceptional balance, leading the Big 10 in scoring and rebounds, plus tops in three-point shooting defense. The backcourt is run by junior guard Kalin Lucas (15 ppg), the leading scorer for the second straight season. Up front is a pair of outstanding board bangers in 6-7 junior Raymar Morgan and 6-6 sophomore Draymond Green.
However, after a great start, the Spartans fell apart in February, losing three in a row. Coach Tom Izzo knows he has a talented team, but expressed frustration that they don’t always defend or rebound with enough passion. “This is a very good team,” Izzo said. “We have a chance to play with anybody in the country, but we still have some leadership and chemistry and distraction problems. If you don’t defend better and you don’t rebound better, you’re not winning anything that matters.” Turnovers and free-throw shooting have been problems, plus 
they are 1-3 SU/ATS as a dog.
Illinois: The Illini are not the choking defensive team they were a year ago, evident by a 9-0 start over the total. Junior guard Demetri McCamey (15 ppg, 6.8 apg) has been the sparkplug that drives the offense, third in the Big 10 in scoring (78.6 ppg).
Coach Bruce Weber has a pair of big bodies in the paint with 6-9 junior Mike Davis (10 ppg, 8 rpg) and 7-foot-1 junior center Mike Tisdale (11 ppg, 6 rpg). They can still play defense, which will help during tourney time. Last week Illinois shot 37.3 percent but survived 51-44 because Michigan shot a season-low 24.6. ”Prettiest ugly win ever,” Weber said.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are about defense for Thad Matta, leading the Big 10 in blocked shots and one of the top defensive teams allowing 60 ppg. They swat shots with athleticism behind 6-7 junior Evan Turner (19 ppg, 9 rpg) and 6-8, 260-pound Dallas Lauderdale, a kid with six or more blocks three times. Turner suffered broken bones in his back Dec. 5 and was out for one month. He missed six games and the Buckeyes went just 3-3.
There’s even some impressive height in the backcourt with guards 6-5 soph William Buford and 6-6 junior Jon Diebler. Ohio State is tops in the Big 10 in field goal shooting (50.9%) and three point shooting (39.5%). The Buckeyes have made the Big 10 race even more exciting the last two weeks with a loss at home to Purdue, but a win at Michigan State.
Wisconsin: The Badgers like to slow the pace down, allowing 57 ppg overall and 60 per game in conference play, on a 14-4 run under the total. Four players score in double figures, led by a three-guard attack of senior Trevon Hughes (15 ppg), senior Jason Bohannon (12 ppg) and sophomore Jordan Taylor (10 ppg).
The Badgers had to adjust to life without second leading scorer 6-10 Jon Leuer through January and half of February with a wrist injury. He is back now for the most important time of the season, though he has looked rusty. “I was definitely a little bit tentative,” he acknowledged last week. “The more games I get the more confidence I think I can get.”
By Huddle Up Sports
Ok, the USA dominated the Olympics. That came as no shock. The highlight may have been the hockey, however. Here’s our take on it. Yes, it was hyped as David vs. Goliath again. And yes, it was quite a matchup USA vs. Canada. Let us just say game two was just as good and exciting as game one between the two. We’re giving USA all the credit in the world, maybe too much? Why would we say this? Yes, Canada had more talent, more NHL players on the team, but does that make Canada a better team? We don’t think so. Canada outplayed the USA by far, but somehow, they heavy underdogs hung in there, beating them once and taking the favorite to overtime a second time. Unfortunately, it almost seemed, as USA was content with just that-overtime. In the overtime they didn’t attack at all. They played not to lose and that may have been what cost them the Gold. We believe if they replayed this game 10 times, USA would win at least six of the ten. Canada may have been the favorite, but they may not have been as good as they were hyped up to be. We’re not taking anything away from the USA because they did indeed exceed expectations, and we’re excited about the Silver Medal and even if they win the Gold, it will never compare to the Miracle on Ice. Nothing will. It was quite an accomplishment nonetheless. They played great, and to US, that was the highlight of the entire Olympics. Congratulations to the Hockey team and ALL USA Olympians’. GREAT JOB!