The race for the NL Central title is the only real drama going in the National League playoff race, as we seem to know the five teams that will qualify for the postseason, with three in the Central. But thanks to MLB’s two-year old playoff format, who finishes in first place is of great consequence. And that makes tonight’s Cincinnati-St. Louis game of great consequence.
East Carolina looks to set the pace in the East, but there are viable challengers, led by Marshall and its exciting quarterback Rakeem Cato. The West appears to be a little more stable at the top, with Tulsa and Rice seeming the clear favorites. But the one thing we’ve learned over the years in Conference USA football is that nothing is at it seems.
Conference USA is the kind of league where nothing ever seems to certain, but as our college football coverage focuses on the Western Division it seems pretty safe to believe the winner will be either Tulsa or Rice. There are some interesting new teams coming into the division, courtesy of realignment, but the Golden Hurricane and Owls each finished the 2012 season on a good note and have enough in the cupboard to make a title run in 2013.
In an age where college football has taken over the athletic culture at so many schools, MAC football still seems down-to-earth…you know, like it’s a game, and not the essence of life itself. It’s also hard not to like the fact that this league has been pretty stable. They haven’t lost members to the raids of college football’s Five Families (SEC, Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten, ACC) and the only addition in recent years has been UMass, who was simply elevating its program to the FBS level.
Conference USA’s Eastern Division is wide open in ways even deeper than the usual meaning when such terminology is applied to a race. Not only is this a balanced division, but the team that’s owned it in recent years—Central Florida—has packed up and left the league. Several teams can make a case to supplant UCF in the Conference USA championship game on December 7, and our college football coverage will run through them all…
TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage enthusiastically applauded the selection of the Huskies for the BCS, but a repeat is going to be hard to do. This side of the division looks like it’s going to be exciting, but with a stacked race that prevents any one team from racking up a huge win total. Three teams, including NIU have legitimate hopes of making it to Detroit on December 6 for the conference championship game.
In a league where it’s all about the quarterbacks, it’s refreshing to see Bowling Green build their success on defense. They had a solid D a year ago, and while they lose tackle Chris Jones—the MAC Defensive Player of the Year—nine other starters return and this will again be a team conference foes don’t want to get into the usual MAC scoring races with.
Four teams that are among the favorites to reach the World Series get baseball’s Sunday showcase today, between TBS’ afternoon coverage and ESPN’s prime-time billing.
It’s a marquee baseball matchup on Fox that sets the tone for Saturday’s daily sports agenda. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the hottest team in MLB, the new betting-line favorite to win the World Series, and they’ll be hosting the Boston Red Sox in a 4 PM ET start. The Red Sox have slipped percentage points behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The AFC South isn’t going to be at the top of anyone’s list as the best division in the NFL, and it might have a hard time even making the list based on who’s most interesting. The general perception is that two of the division’s four teams—Tennessee and Jacksonville—can be ruled out of the world of competitive football before the season even starts.
There was never any real chance for the Jacksonville Jaguars to be any good in 2012. When running back Maurice Jones-Drew went down for the count in Week 7, the season turned into an unmitigated disaster at 2-14. If nothing else, 2013 has to be a little better doesn’t it? That’s the question our NFL analysis will look at here.
It seems like the Tennessee Titans were a lot worse than 6-10 in the 2012 NFL season. This was a team that did very little well, save for running the ball. But when you have a team that falls behind constantly, a power running game can’t be utilized all that often. Is there any hope things can turn back upward for 2013?
