Game tonight in Knoxville

January 29, 2013

@ UT, 7 PM ET/6CT on the U. Just gotta get it done tonight. Rod Odom and James Siakam were the bright spots on Saturday. Rod with 17 and James very active in the middle in the second half. We actually outscored Mizzou, 39-32, in the second half, with a smaller but more athletic lineup. Would love to see Kevin employ that same group as starters tonight. That would be Kede, Dai-Jon, Rod, Sheldon and James. That’s a very fast, athletic lineup who can play defense, hang on the boards and knock down shots. James showed he can play some offense on Saturday. Think Kevin needs to stick him in there as a starter and leave him in the game for a while to let him get in the flow of it. Kyle and Kevin Bright need to get some good minutes also and we’ll need Shelby and Josh to produce off the bench if Kevin goes with the same lineup that started the second half on Saturday. UT is 10-8 and like us 2-4 in conference. They are 8-2 at home, 0-5 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites. This is a huge game. The Vols took Ole Miss to the wire at Oxford last Thursday night losing 62-56, then defeated ‘Bama at home on Saturday, 54-53, in a highly controversial ending. Alabama had the ball with 12 seconds left and took it to the left side of the basket, where Tide shooting guard Trevor Lacey looked like he was fouled on a shot by Jarnell Stokes, but there was no whistle. The game ended and UT survived. Jordan McRae leads the Vols in scoring at 14.7 per game. He shoots 45 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three. Stokes, their powerful 6’8″, 240 power forward, is averaging 11.1 points per game and 8.1 rebounds. We’re going to have to neutralize him somewhat to have a chance. Trae Golden, their point guard, averages 10.4 ppg and 4.1 assists. The Vols are shooting 43 % from the field, 29 % from three and 66% from the line. They average 37 rebounds per game and have 190 assists to 230 turnovers. They’re averaging 13 to’s a game. They don’t shoot it that well, but are athletic and physical, so we have to match that.

We are now 8-10 overall and 2-4 in conference. Need to get it going right now. We’re 1-2 on the road in conference play and 2-3 overall on the road. Kede leads us at 14.9 per game. Kyle is at 10.2 and Rod is at 9.7. We are shooting 40 percent from the field, 35 percent from trifecta and 58.5% from the line. We were so good against Auburn from the line last Wednesday night going 24-of-30 (80%), but then went 3-of-10 from the line Saturday against Missouri. We were also outrebounded by Mizzou, 40-18, that number has to improve drastically tonight or it’ll be a long night. We are averaging 32.2 rebounds per game led by Kevin B., who is averaging 5.7. We’re averaging 13.7 turnovers per game and 11.6 assists. Good assists numbers, not bad turnover numbers. Need to protect the ball, shoot it well and protect the glass on the defensive end and get our share offensively.

I think we can get this done. Should be a grind it out battle. Kentucky @ Ole Miss after us at 9 PM ET/8 CT on ESPN.

Us 61, UT 58

As you probably know now, Sneds finished second to Eldrick in the Farmers Insurance Open. Tiger finished at -14 while Sneds finished at -10. Brandt will play in the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Brandt shot a 69 in the final round which he finished Monday, but the 75 he had on Friday in very tough conditions on Torrey Pines’ South Course, cost him the tourney. Luke went 66,75, 78 and 71 to finish tied for 68th, but earned $12, 200. Luke is playing this week as well at the Waste Management. Golf Channel and NBC will provide coverage. Will keep you informed on it. Brandt earned $536,800 and is now ranked fifth in the Fed Ex Cup race. Brian Gay leads the Cup points having won the Humana Challenge the week before. Tiger is fourth. Luke is 145, but there are a lot of tourneys to go–we’re just getting started–and Luke is making cuts, so feel good about him. Feel very good about Brandt as always. I see a major possibility this year. He’s playing that well and is so confident. Not intimidated by anyone, Eldrick included. Knows he can beat anybody out there.

Finally, Matt Dayes, the high three-star rb out of Fort Lauderdale, will be announcing his decision tomorrow. Sounds like it’s us, South Florida, Arkansas NC State and now EweT (Knoxville) possibly. Matt ran it 200 times for 1,878 yards this season with 31 TDs. In the Florida 8A state championship game against Apopka, Matt rushed for 170 yards and four TDs, in what was called by a Miami Herald sports writer as “one of the greatest state championship games the Sunshine State has ever seen.” Matt’s team, Cypress Bay, lost 53-50 to Apopka. Watched film on Matt. Like him as much as that guy who de-committed last night. Matt is 5’9″, 195, can motor and cuts extremely well. Explosive, strong runner who can run it up the middle and break it outside. Very nice speed and high energy player. Would be a tremendous get. Will let you know tomorrow as soon as Matt announces. It’ll be a close call. I know James has done everything he possibly can as he always does. And he’ll do something tonight for sure. Matt would be an exceptional addition, and to me, just as important as that other guy who sold us out.

Picks for Farmers and winner

January 24, 2013

1. Brandt Sneds: Playing very well right now with a tie 21st last week, but shooting -19. Plays this course extremely well. Defending champion.

2. Phil: Like where his game is too. Doesn’t want to live in California due to taxes, but likes playing in California.

3. Tiger: Certainly a shot at a place (Torrey Pines) where’s he’s won seven times including the historic 2008 U.S. Open when he was playing on a bad wheel and played exceptional golf. I just remember his chip in from the trap on 17 on that Saturday and then his eagle on Saturday on 18 and his birdie on Sunday on 18 to send it into overtime with Rocco Mediate on a Monday. Mediate gave him a good run in the playoff, but Tiger prevailed. Appeared primed for a run for the ages and passing the Golden Bear’s 18 majors. But then the personal failings and no more majors.

4. Dustin Johnson: Like the bomber to have a shot with his meteoric driver and smooth putter.

Winner: Sneds

Excellent from the line and on boards last night; more recruiting thoughts

January 24, 2013

In our 73-61 victory over Auburn, we finished 24-of-30 from the line (80%). We were 10-of-12 in the first half and 14-of-18 in the second half. Kyle Fuller, who finished with 14 points, five boards and three assists, called it a “relief.” This team has the potential to be a good free throw shooting team. We have good shooters and that’s going to start translating to the line. Kede was 8-of-10, Rod was 6-of-6, Kyle was 6-of-7 and Dai-Jon was 4-of-5. We also outboarded AU, 37-20. Kede led the way with seven, Rod had six and Kyle five. Kevin has told his guards they’ve got to hit the boards. Our rebounding has to be by committee because we don’t have a lot of size in the middle and the opposing guards, after they shoot the ball, are going back in a safety position for defense, giving our guards an opportunity to hit the glass. They’ve been doing a very good job of that lately. Kede had eight boards against South Carolina on Saturday. We shot 36% from the field in the first half and 48% in the second half. We were 4-of-14 from three in the first period, and 5-of-10 in the second. Kevin Bright was four-of-seven from trifecta. Kevin is a fine shooter, nice defender and hits the boards very well. He is a really productive player for us as a freshman. Kevin is going to be outstanding. He already is. Sheldon Jeter, another frosh, added 10 points on four-of-eight from the field and 2-of-4 from triple. We’ve got a young group that is growing and growing every game. Auburn shot 50% from the field in the first half, but we held them to 35.5% in the second half. They were 9-of-24 from three (37.5%).

So all in all, a nice night. We’re getting better and better. Still need to keep the consistent effort up for 40 minutes. Against the upper echelon teams in the conference, we will have to do that. And we’ve got one of those teams on Saturday in Missouri. Missouri is 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the SEC. Out game at Mizzou Arena is at 5 PM ET/4 CT on ESPNU. Missouri lost handily to Florida and Ole Miss on the road, so they’re beatable, but they’re also pretty talented. So we’ll be tested.Mizzou defeated South Carolina 71-65 at home on Tuesday Night. They’ve got seven transfers on their team. Five guys are averaging double figure points led by Laurence Bowers, who is at 16.8 per game. Jabari Brown comes in at 14.4 and point guard Phil Pressey, who will be a key matchup for us with maybe Dai-Jon on him, is at 12 points and 5.5 assists. Alex Oriakhi, a transfer from Syracuse, is averaging 10.4 and 8.4 boards a game. And the guy who may concern us the most is Earnest Ross, a transfer from Auburn, who is averaging 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. Ross pretty much won the game for the Tigers over SC on Tuesday Night with a clutch three and a key assist that led to the game clinching three. Mizzou shoots 44 percent from the field, 33 percent from trifecta and 73 percent from the line. They are averaging 42.8 rebounds per game, so the boards will be a major challenge for us. We’ve been really good on the boards the last couple of games. We’re going to have to wear our hard hats and bring our lunch pales Saturday. Mizzou is also averaging almost seven steals per game, so we’ve got to secure the ball. They’ll press us a lot, so Kede, Kyle, Dai-Jon and Kevin Bright will have to be strong and smart with the ball and not turn it over much. This will be challenging. After Missouri, we play Tennesseeat @UT on Tuesday Night at 7 ET/6 CT on the U. Then we’re back home Saturday, Feb. 2, against Alabama at 4 PM ET/3 CT on the SEC Network (Channel 21 in B’ham). I’ll be going to the game with my daughters, so I’ll give a recap on Sunday. We have our work cut out for us, but the free throw shooting, the shooting and the boards are very much improving. This team can play defense; there is no doubt about that. If we can do those other things, we’ll be a pretty good basketball team as the season keeps progressing. By the way, commit Darius Thompson had 38 points two nights ago with 11 assists. Darius was an excellent pickup. Had seven or eight threes. Extremely good range from trifecta.

These are my thoughts on recruiting. To me, our key targets left are running back Matt Dayes, wide receiver Jordan Cunningham, and now a new one, safety Jeremy Tyler out of Lithonia, Georgia. Jeremy is a 6’1″, 200 pound safety who is rated a 5.7, three-star by rivals and gets an 80 by 247 sports. I watched film on Jeremy and really liked his game. He’s a ball hawk who makes a lot of interceptions, he’s a good tackler and an excllent athlete as well. Awesome kid too. Saw an interview with him by Rivals and was impressed with his intelligence and his very respectful nature. He’d be a good addition to the class and a good fit in our program. So those are the three I’d like to see us add along with linebacker Skai Moore if we can take all four. It is assumed by some that we can only take three more, but with early enrollees, qb McCrary and OL Dowling, on the roster, and counting towards last year, maybe we can get all four of these guys. Rudy’s commitment is still tenuous. Barton Simmons of 247 Sports still feels like Rudy will be a Dore, but it looks like it will come down to the wire. We may pop up with somebody else. Four-star running back Jordan Wilkins has not been that receptive. Neither has four-star dback Corn Elder, but they may still be in the picture. But I like these first four guys I mentioned. If Jordan Cunningham commits, I think we can get Moore because they’re good friends. Jeremy Tyler will be visiting this weekend. 247 feels pretty good about Dayes too. Will keep you posted.

Thank you may I have another…tight end

January 21, 2013

Mitch Parsons, a four-star tight end by Rivals and a high three-star by 247 Sports and ESPN, has committed. Mitch is 6’4″, 230 and he’s from Colorado.Barton Simmons of 247 is very high on him. Mitch chose us over Ole Miss. He was a previous commit to Colorado, but de-committed a while ago.Looks like Mitch and junior college transfer Brandon Vandenburg will get it done for us at the position for the next three or four years. We’ve got other tight ends who are still developing like Dillon Van der Wal, who will be a redshirt sophomore and who was highly rated coming out two years ago. Kris Kentera showed signs of talent, but dropped some key passes this year. These two commits bring terrific athletic ability and toughness to the position. We now have 23 commits. Not sure what they’re going to do with our kicker commit–he would make 24– but I guess they’re going to greyshirt him, meaning he wouldn’t be on the active roster next year, but eligible to play in 2014. Looks like we’ll take a couple more. Would like to see us finish with running back Matt Dayes and wide receiver Jordan Cunningham, both out of the Fort Lauderdale area. Heard great things about both of them and both have very good ratings. Matt is a solid three-star, and has been a late bloomer, and Jordan is a high four-star by Rivals and a high three-star by 247. We’re about done. Rudy Ford’s visit went well. Just have to finish and hold onto this class till Feb. 6 when they become official Commodores.

A lot of awesome stuff for us

January 18, 2013

Huge recruiting weekend on campus. James doin’ work with the coaches and current players to keep the 16 commits who will be in town this weekend along with the four prospects who will also be visiting. We have 22 spots filled. I’ve read now where we can take four more, as two of the commits in this class have signed and are ready for spring ball; four-star quarterback Johnathon McCrary and high three-star offensive lineman Sean Dowling. Included in our list of 16 commits visiting this weekend is Johnathan “Rudy” Ford, the four-star running back (247 sports) out of New Hope, Alabama. James is going to put a full court press on Rudy to lock him in with us. I think James will get it done. It’s an impressive group of players who are committed. Watched film this week on high three-star corner Darrius Sims (Memphis), solid three-star wide receiver Latevius Rayford (Memphis) and McCrary. Very impressed with all three commits. McCary can make all the throws and is highly mobile. Very accurate with a pretty strong arm, which he can get stronger while working with Coach Gault and reps in spring practice. Sims is fantastic. Darrius is a playmaker at corner, who can change games with his ball- hawking ability. Really like Darrius. And I was also very impressed with Latevius. Excellent receiver with good size who makes a lot happen after he catches it. Very good speed. I really like what we are getting in this class. James will lock them all down this weekend. A couple of commits are not coming this weekend including quarterback Chad Kanoff, who couldn’t make it, but is good to go. Our kicker commit, Tommy Oppenheimer, won’t be here either, but he looks good to go as well. Love this class. James has loaded up on playmakers with wide receivers and dbs. He’s thrown in two ols, an excellent defensive tackle in Jay Woods, a tight end, a running back, a couple of linebackers and two qbs. We’re going to be a lot deeper at linebacker and on the offensive line next year, so James wanted to upgrade some more on the offensive perimeter and in the defensive backfield.

We have four interesting targets visiting this weekend. Four-star tight end Mitch Parsons out of Colorado and solid three-star juco tight end Brandon Vandenburg will be visiting. Not sure we can take them both. Vandenburg is described as a guy who will be ready to play next year and looks like a guy who can play on Sundays. Parsons is highly sought after and would be a nice get as well. Also visiting is four-star (Rivals) wide receiver Jordan Cunningham, who has a highly impressive list of suitors. He’s got offers from all over the place. He has broken it down to VU, Alabama, FSU, Oklahoma State and Stanford. Jordan stands 6’3″ and weighs 185. He compares favorably to Jordan Matthews, our top flight receiver. Jordan Cunningham caught 53 passes for 817 yards and seven TDs this year. He is from the University School in Fort Lauderdale. Would be an excellent land here. I like our chances with James on Jordan this weekend. The final target in town is wide receiver Juwaan Williams, a high three star prospect (5.7 Rivals, 87 by 247 sports). I say lets get commits out of all four, lock in the guys we have on the board, keep them committed and sign them Feb. 6, though there is one more guy I would love to add. He is Matt Dayes, a three-star running back out of Fort Lauderdale. Matt had an awesome year and James is very interested in him. Sounds like an excellent second back to go along with Rudy. James will get it worked out where we may be able to take all five.

So we’ve just got to finish strong with this class. Love what we have so far. Now to next fall. I read a story in Bleacher Report about the top ten quarterbacks to look for next year. Austyn Carta-Samuels, our guy, was one of the qbs listed. Austyn put up some excellent numbers as a freshman at Wyoming before transferring to us two years ago. He can give us good passing ability and that great mobility like a Johnny Manziel has. I’m not saying he’s the next Johnny Heisman– there are very few who are– but I’m saying Austyn can be an outstanding qb for us. With Jordan Matthews and Chris Boyd to throw to among others and Wes Tate, Brian Kimbrow, Warren Norman and Jerron Seymour (who will be coming back from injury) and a solid front, we’ve got a good chance to have an excellent offense. Austyn will have competition in the spring though, as redshirt frosh Patton Robinette, whom the coaches are very high on and who has all the measurables, (6’4″, 210), along with McCary who also has the measurables (6’4″, 200) will be competing for the starting job. It will be an excellent competition and Kanoff, whom I’ve watched on film and put up out of sight numbers last year, will join the fray in the summer. We’ll be good at qb. Austyn is 6’1″, 220. Defense should be solid with some young linebackers who will be working to get in the rotation with Chase Garnham. They are talented. Line should be solid with Walker May, Barron Davis, Vince Taylor and Jared Morse back. Commit Jay Woods will also compete for playing time at tackle. Secondary has studs cornerback Andre Hal and safety Kenny Ladler back, and some of these young guys will be in the mix. I see another eight win season. We’ve got Ole Miss at home to open up, Georgia, Mizzou and Kentucky at home. We’re at South Carolina, A&M, Florida and UT. It doesn’t get any easier that’s for sure. Eight wins would be excellent. Non-conference games at home vs. Austin Peay and UAB. On the road at UMass. Ole Miss will be a very important opener. Need to get it done there. Saturday, Aug 31. Need to fill the stadium up. Could be on ESPN. Pretty big game. If not regular ESPN, the Deuce or the U.Next year should be another excellent year for James and company, and I’m really excited about 2014. Could be very special.

Basketball lost a very tough one to Ole Miss Tuesday Night. We played so well and was really proud of the way we played. Dai-Jon scored 16 and looks to be the four-star player Kevin got a couple of years ago. Kedren continues to play well, and I love what Kevin Bright can do along with Sheldon Jeter. Kevin Bright hit that clutch three with three seconds left which looked like had won the game for us. Kevin Stallings looked at his bench after Bright drained the three from the corner and asked one of his assistants how many timeouts he had left. I thought I had seen a little indecision on that, but Kevin had used two or three timeouts towards the end of the game and wasn’t going to get a technical calling timeout when he didn’t have one. He had to make sure. Unfortunately, the time out was too late, and a couple of the guys were excited about the shot by K Bright sank and didn’t get on their man quickly enough. Then that annoyung Marshall Henderson drained a three-pointer from 35 feet to tie it and send the game into overtime. Henderson will flat out throw it up, but he can be a killer when he’s on. We also shot 10-of-23 from the line and that’s unacceptable. We would have won the game by eight or 10 had we been better at the line. Shouldn’t have come down to that. Anyway, we play at South Carolina tomorrow at 1:30 PM ET/12:30 CT on the SEC Network. Unfortunately, the SEC Network has Ole Miss playing Missouri at the same time, so you may not be able to get the game unless you have a dish. I’ll give a complete report on Sunday though. We’re still competing hard and we have talent. Would like to see Rod Odom take on more of a leadership role along with Kyle Fuller. They’re the elder statesmen on the team, so they need to lead. Would like to see both play better also. Thought Josh Hendo and Shelby Moats gave us some pretty good minutes inside. The free throws were just killers though. South Carolina is 1-2 in conference with a victory Wednesday Night over LSU, 82-73. They have losses to Auburn (74-71) at home and Miss State on the road (56-54). They are 11-5 overall. They don’t have any marquee wins this season. They lost to Clemson at home, 64-55, and to St. John’s, 89-65 at the Johnnies. They have four guys scoring in double figures led by Brenton Williams, who’s averaging 11.8. LaShay Page (11.7), the superb football and basketball player Bruce Ellington (10.7), and Michael Carrera (10.4) also score in double figures. Carerera averages 7.1 boards per game and Lakeem Jackson pulls down 7.3. Frank Martin is in his first year at SC coming over from Kansas State where he did a nice job. He brings intensity and tenacious defense to the program. He’s a pretty good coach. Highly emotional. Kind of more like a football coach than a basketball coach. But he does a good job. Kevin and company will have their work cut out for them.

Haven’t heard anything yet on three-star combo guard Darius Thompson, who we’ve been recruiting hard and may make a decision any day. Would be nice to get Darius in the fold and add another power forward. I still think this team can finish strong. Just have to take care of business tomorrow. The tournament is not totally out of reach yet. Prospects not great right now, but still got a lot of basketball left and we have a good team. I’m really excited about next year too. Add Thompson along with 6’10 signee Damian Jones along with another power forward, and we’ve got the makings of a pretty special team in 2013-14.

Baseball is not far away from starting their season. We open at home against Long Beach State Feb, 15-17. I saw a preseason poll (think it was in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) that had us at No.3 in the country. We’re going to be special. I see Omaha as a distinct possibility. Of course the SEC had six teams in the top 10, so it’ll be a war this year in conference. The poll had Arkansas no.1. But I like our chances. With our outfield of Connor Harrell, Yaz and maybe Jack Lupo, we can cover the outfield as well as anybody in the country. Infield will be good with Conrad Gregor at first and Vince Conde at third. Vince struggled some last year, but he was a freshman. He’s going to be good. Conrad is an excellent hitter. Tony Kemp will be back to play second and lead off. Tony is an outstanding player. He’s a tremendous outfielder, but he made the switch to second base last year when we had some injuries and he performed remarkably when he got used to playing the position. Tony is a fine hitter and just makes it happen on the base paths. Awesome speed and base stealing ability. Shortstop will be interesting. I’m looking at Joel McKeithan as our early leader at short, but we’ll see what Corbs does. Our outstanding catcher Spencer Navin is back. Spence is unreal on defense and can really hit the ball. The weekend rotation will be fantastic with T.J. Pecoraro, Tyler Beede and Kevin Ziomek, if those are the three guys. They sure bring a ton of talent to the mound. Bullpen will be anchored by Brian Miller. I see Brian as our closer. Corbs is calling the shots, but Brian looked like he could be our closer last year. Steven Rice and Jared Miller will be excellent middle relievers. We’ve got arms. We’ll have a new pitching coach as Derek Johnson took a job in the Cubs’ organization. Corbs hired Scott Brown, and I was very impressed with Scott’s credentials when I read them. We’ve also got some pretty good power. If Connor can get that bat going early, he’s a 10-12 maybe more homer guy. I really like the looks of Chris Harvey, our backup catcher and dh. Chris is 6’5″, 215, and has a great power background in high school. See Conrad and Spence going yard some too. Yaz is another who can hit it out. Can we have the power we had two years ago with Aaron Westlake and Curt Casali, who are both doing well in the Tigers organization and led us to the World Series two years ago? I think by committee we can. I’m looking for a stellar season with an excellent freshman class. National championship is definitely in the cards.

Finally, Brandt and Luke are playing well in the Humana Challenge in Indian Wells, Caly this weekend. Luke is having a big day at -5 today through 13 and -7 for the tourney through 17. Roberto Castro is leading at -16. Luke is tied for 47th. The tourney is played at three courses in the Palm Springs, Caly area, the La Quinta Course, the Palmer Course and the Nicklaus course. There are a ton of players in this tourney. Incredibly competitive. Brandt is -1 today and -6 for the tourney through 10. He’s tied for 64th. They make the cut after the third day, so Lukeand Brandt needs to play well from here on out. So awesome that both are playing on tour this season. We’re double teaming the other competitors. Should be an awesome year.

Will have more over the weekend.

Semifinals Sunday in the NFL

January 18, 2013

With the Manti Te’o debacle and Chip Kelly’s inexplicable flip flop, I think it’s time we concentrate on the field and not off of it. Te’o just seems like an idiot, and Kelly, not sure what happened there. It’s pretty suspicious that he left Oregon with the cloud of an NCAA investigation on the horizon. Pete Carroll did the same thing to USC before they got hammered. Lance Armstrong is a joke as well.

But wanted to talk about the Falcons-Niners and Patriots-Ravens. Epic Sunday coming up. Here’s a look at the games and predictions on which two teams will be headed to N’Awlins for Super Bowl 47 Sunday, Feb.3.

Last Week 2-2; Overall: 17-15

San Francisco 49ers (12-4-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (14-3)

Where: Georgia Dome (71,228), Atlanta, Ga.

Time: 3 PM ET/2 CT

Network: FOX

Broadcasters; Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver and Erin Andrews

Stripes: Terry McAulay (referee), Carl Paganelli (umpire), Wayne Mackie (head linesman), Tom Staphan (line judge), Gary Cavaletto (field judge), Allen Baynes (side judge) and Tony Sterator (back judge)

Line: 49ers by 3 1/2

Like the ‘Niners defense to do enough while I don’t see the Falcons slowing down Colin Kaepernick. He’s just too elusive and too fast and explosive to be neutralized. I also see Michael Crabtree having a big game at wide receiver and Frank Gore having a nice day on the ground. The ‘Niners’ defense is better than the Falcons’, and although the receiving corps of Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzales is unstoppable, I think the Niners can do enough on defense to help them pull this one out. Expect a very good game though. I’m pretty much sold on Kaepernick. Still not totally sold on Matt Ryan as elite. They’re both good players. Just think Ryan can still make mistakes. Like the ‘Niners a little better even though Atlanta is at home. This should be a classic with some explosive plays. Defense won’t be the dominant theme here, but I think the Niners can get some turnovers off Ryan and that will be the difference along with Kaepernick, Crabtree and the ‘Niners’ offense.

‘Niners 31, Falcons 28

Baltimore Ravens (12-6) @ New England Patriots (13-4)

Where: Gillette Stadium (68,756), Foxborough, Massachusetts

When: 6:30 PM ET/5:30 CT

Network: CBS

Broadcasters: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Steve Tasker, Soloman Wilcots

Refs: Bill Leavy (referee), Chad Brown (umpire), Tony Veteri (head linesman), Jeff Seeman (line judge), Doug Rosenbaum (side judge), Scott Steenson (field judge) and Parry Paganelli (back judge).

Weather: low 30’s at kickoff, wind around 25 mph. Will get colder and stay windy

Line: Pats by 8 1/2

This line has been going down all week. It started at 9 1/2, so that’s interesting. People are believing in the Ravens; at least to beat the spread. Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones are a potent passing game combination for the Ravens. They have been excellent in the postseason. Throw Ray Rice in there at running back and you have a high octane offense. The Pats’ defense is susceptible to big plays, so they have to be alert to that because Flacco and offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell have no problem chunking it deep. They will go for the home run as many times as they can. Ray Lewis is looking to win a ring in his last season. The Ravens defense is pretty good, not great; they’ve gotten older. The New England defense is young and still trying to figure it out. They’ve got talent, but haven’t put it all together yet. So they could be exploited by the Ravens’ offense. So will I go against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick? No, not going to do that. I’m going with the masters of the postseason. Brady is just too good for the Ravens’ defense. I expect a high scoring game despite the conditions. The Ravens scored 38 in -2 weather in Denver last week. This weather is old hat for the Patriots. They’ve played in this kind of weather many times. Should be an epic.

Patriots 35, Ravens 31

Ole Miss tonight; Rudy Ford

January 15, 2013

@ 9 PM ET/8 CT on ESPNU. Their key guy is Murphy Holloway. He’s averaging 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds. He’s 6’7, 240, a load. Reginald Buckner, who’s 6’9″,235, is averaging 10 points and almost eight boards a game. Their leading scorer is Marshall Henderson, a gun slinging guard, who is a streaky trifecta shooter. He’s 57-of-158 from triple (36%), averaging 18.6 points per game. When he gets it going he’s good, but he can go cold, and that’s when you put pressure on him and let him shoot, because he’ll keep throwing it up. The key is stopping Murphy in the middle. Nick Wiliams, a 6’4″ guard, is aveaging 10 per game.

We’ve got to be good on the glass again tonight. We’ve held our own with Kentucky and Arkansas in our last two games, but Ole Miss averages 41 boards per game. We’re averaging 32. Ole Miss is 13-2 overall and 2-0 in conference with wins over UT (92-74) and Mizzou (64-49). Kevin is going to make some changes in the starting lineup tonight. Look for Sheldon Jeter and James Siakam to get starts tonight in all probability. Kedren looks like a game time decision as he injured his shoulder again on Saturday. He has struggled with a dislocated shoulder and reinjured it on Saturday, so we’ll see. If Kede can’t go Kyle will most likely run the point with Dai-Jon at the two. A.J. Astroth, another freshman, got some playing time Saturday and looked to hustle pretty well. Maybe he can help us some in the backcourt. He’s got a reputation for being a shooter, and do we ever need shooters.

We’ve got a shot at home. We always have a shot at home. Defense is still pretty good. Opponents are shooting only 41 percent from the floor and 29 percent from trifecta. So if we can keep that up, hold our own on the boards and knock down shots, we’ve got a shot. Kevin said on his show last night we could expect a commit coming up soon. Hopefully it’s the shooting guard from Murfreesboro.

Running back commit Rudy Ford visited UT over weekend and had a good visit. Getting a little scary, but he’s coming this weekend, so hopefully James and company can lock him down. James was in Fort Lauderdale yesterday visiting Matt Dayes, an impressive looking running back from that area. Matt would be a good pickup. It was anticipated that James would also visit linebacker Skai Moore and wide receiver Jordan Cunningham. All three are solid to high three-star players. Really like Skai’s size at outside linebacker at 6’3″, 215. Will need to gain some weight, but strength Coach Gault can take care of that. Cunningham is a 6″3′ wide receiver and is a high three-star. Dayes put up fantastic numbers at running back this year. All three guys would be nice lands if we can fit all three in.

The Elite Eight

January 11, 2013

This should be an epic weekend in the NFL. Elite teams, marquee games, stellar players. Can’t wait for this. Here are previews and predictions.

Record: 1-3 last week; 15-13 overall

Saturday’s games:

Baltimore Ravens (11-6) @ Denver Broncos (13-3)

Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High (76,125), Denver

Time: 4:30 PM ET/3:30 CT

Network: CBS

Broadcasters: Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf and Solomon Wilcots

Line: Broncos by 9 1/2

Peyton completed 400-of0-583 passes this year (68.5%) for 4,659 yards with 37 TDs and 11 ints. Are you kiddin me? What a comback. Definitely comeback player of the year and within a whisker of MVP, though I barely give the nod to Adrian Peterson. Peyton has four MVPs (2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009), but he wants his second ring. This will be a step in that direction. Ray Lewis and company will give the Broncos a battle, but I like Peyton and the Broncos to prevail.

Broncos 28, Ravens 24

Green Bay Packers (12-5) @ San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1)

Where: Candlestick Park (70,207), San Francisco

Time: 8 PM ET/7 CT

Network: Fox

Broadcasters: Joe, Troy, Pam and EA

Line: Niners by 2 1/2

Tremendous matchup here. ARodg has thrown for 4,295 yards with 39 touchdowns and just eight ints. He has a rating of 108 for the season. He’s been sensational. But the Packers are struggling with injuries. Top wideouts Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley are not 100 percent and questionable for the game. Just like Frank Gore to run the ball well for the Niners and their defense to hold ARodg enough to survive and advance.

Niners 31, Packers 27

Sunday

Seattle Seahawks (12-5) @ Atlanta Falcons (13-3)

Where: Georgia Dome (71,228), Atlanta

Time: 1 PM ET/Noon CT

Network: FOX

Broadcasters: Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick, Laura Okmin and Chris Meyers

LIne: Falcons by 1

Matt Ryan, Roddy White and Julio Jones have been awesome this year, but I love what Russell Wilson has done for the Seahawks and that Seahawks defense is terrific. Look for a tremendous game, but something about Russell Wilson is magical. Seahawks move on the NFC Championship at San Francisco.

Seahawks 28, Falcons 27

Houston Texans (13-4) @ New England Patriots (12-4)

Where: Gillette Stadium (68,756), Foxborough, Mass.

Time: 4:30 PM ET/3:3o CT

Network: CBS

Broadcasters: Jim, Phil and Steve Tasker

Patriots by 9 1/2

Tom Brady always puts up sensational numbers and this year is no different. Brady has completed 401-of-637 passes (63%) for 4,827 yards, 34 TDs and 8 ints. Brady and Bill Belichick trying to tie Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers in the 70’s with four Super Bowl rings. They’ve got a shot this year. A win here would set up an epic with Peyton in Mile High next week for the right to go to New Orleans for Super Bowl 47, if Peyton can take care of business too. I see both those scenarios happening.

Brady/ Belichick 38, Texans 27

So Proud of the team

January 11, 2013

The guys played so hard. Really, really proud of the heart, the hustle and the never give up attitude. When Ky shot 58% in the first half and led by 11 it didn’t look great, but I was liking the way we competed at the end of the first half. Then we put on our best performance of the season in the second half. We held Kentucky to 33% from the field (9-of-27) and 22 percent from downtown (2-of-9). The defense was sensational. We outrebounded them 42-37, with one of our biggest hustlers and heart guys on the team, Shelby Moats, pulling down 10. We had 20 offensive rebounds to their nine. Kede finished with 18 and Rod added 12. Dai-Jon and Sheldon gave us some awesome minutes. Wow, that blown shot clock violation miss by the refs hurt, but who knows what would have happened if we were down three rather than five with the ball? But it sure would have helped. Still we came back and Kede knocked down a three and we got them to turn it over and Kede had a nice look at a deep three that was a couple of inches off the mark from getting us a 61-60 victory. The shot was so close to going in. The crowd was fantastic and the players were totally into it.

I love this group of guys. They have an amazing amount of heart. We’ve just got to scratch and claw for every win we can get. As tough as it is to do on a Thursday-Saturday week, particularly after a loss to UK, we’ve got to get ready for Arkansas at Fayetteville on Saturday. Tip off is at 7 PM ET/6 CT on Fox Sports Net. Arkansas is led by guard B.J. Young, who averages 17.3 ppg and has 54 assists. and power forward Marshawn Powell, who averages 14.1 ppg and 5.1 rbg. Need to turn around and be ready for this.

A lot of season left. That was just one loss. It was a tough one for sure, but we can snap back and get back on the winning track. Arkansas is 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the SEC with a loss to A&M Wed. night, 69-51 at College Station. They’ve lost to Wisconsin (77-70), Michigan (80-67) and have a quality win over Oklahoma (81-78). So they’re going to be tough. Just gotta snap back.

Tonight and some notes about recruiting

January 10, 2013

Big Blue comes to town with our game slated to tip off at 9 PM ET/8 CT on ESPN tonight. They are 9-4 right now and look to be getting better and better. They played No.4 Louisville a tight game, losing 80-77 at the ‘Ville a week and a half ago. So that was impressive. I watched their game with Eastern Michigan, their last game last Wednesday, and they won, 90-38. Eastern Michigan is not that great, but not bad either. Was pretty impressed with the ‘Cats. They’re going to be a dangerous team, and they’re getting there right now. They lost to Duke, 75-68, on Nov. 13 on a neutral court, and have lost @ Notre Dame, 64-50, on 11-29-12. They lost to Baylor at home, 64-55, on Dec. 1, and they lost to Louisville. No real marquee wins except their first victory on Dec.9 over a pretty decent Maryland team, which is 13-2, but lost to Florida State last night, 65-62, at home, so that may not be that impressive.

Five-star freshman Archie Goodwin, a shooting guard, leads them in scoring at 15.8 per season. He’s shootinn 40 % from three (10-of-25). Five-star frosh Alex Poythress, a 6′;8″, 225 power forward, whom we were heavily involved with in recruiting last year, is averaging 14 points per game and six rebounds. Sophomore Kyle Wiltier, who was a five-star recruit two years ago, averages 12 points per game, and is shooting 43% from trifecta (33-of-76). He will jack it up at any opportunity. And they have length. Five-star center Nerlins Noel, a 6’11” player, is averaging 10.3 points per game, 9.3 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game (46 on season). Willie Cauley-Stein is another 6″11″ player who is averaging eight points, six boards and has 27 blocks on the season. Ryan Harrow runs the show at point. He’s a transfer sophomore and he’s pretty impressive. Reminds me of their point guard two years ago, Brandon Knight. Just a smooth player. He’s averaging 9.0 points per game and has 31 assists. Julius Mays backs up Harrow at point and plays a lot of minutes–he’s basically a starter–averaging nine points per game.

Kentucky is shooting 49 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 64 percent from the line. They average almost 40 rebounds per game. We’ve got to be able to keep up with them in that area. They average eight steals per game and average almost 14 turnovers per game.

It’ll be tough, but I do like the way we played against William and Mary. The Tribe weren’t a bad team and I loved the way Sheldon Jeter played. We’re shooing 42 percent from the field, 35 percent from three and a miserable 58 percent from the line. We’ve averaging 32 rebounds per game and 13 turnovers per game.

Kede leads us in scoring at 16.6 per and Kyle is next at 12. Rod is third at 9.6. Kevin Bright leads us in rebounding at 6.4.

They’re many things we need to do well. Defend, which we’ve been pretty good at this year giving up only 59,5 points per game. We’ve got to take care of the basketball and not give them some easy opportunities on steals and fast break baskets. We’ve got to shoot it well, both inside and from triple, and we’ve got to somehow hang in there with them on the boards.

Kentucky is good right now and they have a chance to be great. Our team is OK right now, but I still like our players and think we can be good. We’ve just got to get it going on a consistent basis. Tonight would be a good start. This game will give us another look to see how we’re progressing. The crowd will be huge as it always is, but there are going to be a ton of Ky fans in attendance. Our students and our crowd need to match the big blue intensity of their crowd. If we can get some confidence early and hang in and have a lead in the second half, maybe with 10 minutes left, there is a chance. Not a great chance, but a chance.

A couple of new football recruits have come on the radar, at least on the recruiting sites. Brandon Vandenburg, a 6’6″, 260 junior college tight end, has garnered a lot of interest from James and the staff. Brandon is a 5.6, three-star on Rivals and an 85 on 247 , solid numbers. He played at the University of San Diego for one year. He was recruited by now Michigan coach Brady Hoke when he ran a good program at San Diego Brandon transferred to junior college at the College of Desert. He is from Palm Desert, California. He’s the number three junior college tight end in the country as ranked by 247. His other two choices are Arkansas and Tennessee, but we are his leader. He will visit us Jan. 18, he’ll visit Arkansas on Jan. 25, and he’s working on a visit to UT on Jan. 11. He likes what the staff is doing and James and three of the coaches had an in-home visit with him recently.

Another player on the radar has been C. J. Duncan, an unranked athlete from Montgomery, Alabama. He rushed for 800 yards this year and threw for 1,000, but he is projected to be a slot receiver for us. C.J. likes us. He holds offers from Southern Miss and Troy, but Miss. State and Auburn are showing interest. Looks like an interesting player as well.

We’ve got bball recruit Darius Thompson in town this weekend. Believe he’ll be at the game tonight. He’s a 6’4″ combo guard. Three-star. Would like to land him.

Will be in touch tomorrow.