Watching the Pac-10 lose the West…

As the NCAA Selection Committee prepares to finalize their brackets on Sunday night, the scene will shift from the conference tournaments to the Big Dance, but we should all be reminded that this season -above any others in recent memory- has seen a shift in power out West, one that members of the Pacific-10 conference should be mindful.

The Mountain West Conference (MWC) and the West Coast Conference (WCC) currently stake more claims at NCAA berths than the Pac-10.  Those aren’t combined figures, individually the two conferences have better outlooks on Selection Sunday than the Pac-10. 

The MWC has four teams (New Mexico, BYU, UNLV, San Diego State) that have legitimate claims at the NCAA tournament.  The WCC will get two in the dance after Saint Mary’s beat Gonzaga in the conference championship,

The Mountain West begins tournament play in Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday.  BYU and New Mexico are locks to make the tourney.  UNLV is close to a lock as long as there aren’t too many bubble busters this year.  If the Rebels can take down Utah in their first round game (something they haven’t done this year, losing in Vegas and in Salt Lake), they should all but punch their ticket.  SDSU probably has some more work to do, but a deep run into the MWC tourney should solidify their resumé for the selection committee.  Four teams in the dance is a real possibility for the Mountain West.

The West Coast Conference also played their tournament in Las Vegas, at The Orleans Arena.  Saint Mary’s blew Gonzaga out of the arena and into The Orleans’ casino, cruising to a 81-62 win.  The Gaels had been 0-2 against Gonzaga this year.  The Zags are sure to get an at-large bid and Saint Mary’s will not have to sweat it out as a bubble team this year, although their resumé would have been pretty impressive.

How about the Pac-10? Most experts believe that the University of California will be in after winning the conference’s regular season title, going 13-5. Washington and Arizona State are firmly on the bubble, making for great drama in the conference tournament this week. The conference had a down year and getting only one team (if Cal wins the Pac-10 tourney) is a real possibility, especially if at-large bids continue to be stolen by schools like Saint Mary’s.

The one thing the Pac-10 has going for it is that their top three teams have ended the regular season on streaks. Cal won seven of their last eight, UW has won four in a row and ASU was victorious in six of their last seven. It’s no secret that the selection committee likes schools that are playing their best ball in March, but the stage has been set to see a power conference get just their tournament champion in the dance like most mid-majors are used to every year.

However, one down year does not a crisis make, right?  Think again.  The MWC in particular has finally begun to steal the western showcase as the premier conference in the last few years.

This year’s edition of the Pac-10 went 4-5 against the MWC and 6-6 against the WCC.  Modest numbers for the lesser conferences and embarrassing for the Pac-10, one of the premier conferences in the country.  Many of these games were in Pac-10 arenas, as big schools continue to be weary when it comes to going into a rabid environment as a favorite against a potential giant killer.

Need more evidence to show that the Pac-10 is no longer the dominant force in Western college basketball?  Check the rankings.  Currently the MWC has two teams ranked: BYU (#15 in the AP Poll/#14 in ESPN’s Coaches Poll) and New Mexico (#8 in both polls).  UNLV is receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.  The WCC’s Gonzaga is ranked #18 in the AP Poll and #14 in the Coaches Poll.  Saint Mary’s is receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.

The Pac-10?  The conference has zero teams in the top 25 in both polls and only one team (Cal) is receiving votes.  Even the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) has Utah State receiving more votes in both polls than the Pac-10’s Cal Golden Bears.

Clearly, better basketball is being played in the lesser conferences out west than in the Pac-10.  ESPN’s bracketologist, Joe Lunardi has four MWC teams in the NCAA tournament, two in from the WCC and two in from the Pac-10 with Cal and ASU making the cut, though ASU is listed as one of the last squads in.  Washington is among Lunardi’s first four out of the dance.

The news gets even worse when one starts talking about the Pac-10 and the Mountain West in college football.  In 2009, three MWC teams finished in the top 25 of the AP Poll.  Texas Christian University finished ranked #6, BYU earned a #12 ranking and Utah finished at #18.  The Pac-10 had only two teams in the final poll, with Oregon ranked #11 and USC finishing at #23.

In the last two years, the MWC has done exceptionally in head-to-head matchups against Pac-10 schools.  In 2008, the MWC dominated the Pac-10, going 6-1 in the regular season and losing in the only bowl game the conferences played against one another (an Arizona win over BYU).  In 2009, the MWC went 2-3 against the Pac-10 with both wins coming in bowl games. 

Combine the last two years and the MWC can boast a 8-5 record against the Pac-10 in football, including a 2-1 record in head-to-head matchups in bowl games.

Is it time for the Pac-10 to panic?  Probably not.  It’s unlikely that historically strong basketball programs like UCLA and Arizona won’t recover with strong recruiting and superior coaching.  In football, no one thinks USC will stay down for long and certainly programs like Oregon, Washington and Stanford are strong teams that are on the up-and-up.

However, the success of the Mountain West should not be ignored as the conference is making a bid to be the second major conference from the west.

Is it any wonder that the Pac-10 is talking about expansion?  Furthermore, if the conference does add more schools, some of the teams being mentioned include MWC members Utah, BYU, San Diego State, Colorado State and UNLV.

If you can beat ’em, join ’em (or in this case, invite them to join you).

Watching the NFL Scouting Combine (part 2)…

This is the second of a two-part column.  The first part can be read HERE.

The combine needs to be a way to look at raw physical skills and athletic potential.  Rarely will someone need to run a 40-yard dash in a straight line during a game.  Or make a vertical leap from a standing position.  Or perform consecutive reps on a bench press with weights equaling 225 pounds.

What NFL teams should want are football players.  Athletes that have tremendous track records with great film of them playing exceptional football.  The graveyard of draft busts is littered with guys who had great combine performances.

College performance and film footage should be the first thing steams look at prior to drafting players.  The next thing to look at is character, followed by the combine results, which should just solidify the front office’s thoughts on a player, not create them.

Let’s take a look at a few players who are considered top picks in April’s draft.  C.J. Spiller (Clemson RB) was one of the best all-around offensive players in college football, tearing up an underrated ACC this year.  His ability to catch passes and return kicks in addition to run the ball effectively makes him a niche player in the mold of a Reggie Bush without the #1 pick price tag and with a better knack for finding holes as a runner.  He is considered the top rated running back by Scouts, Inc. and falls somewhere in the top 15 of most everyone’s big board.  Spiller goes out to the combine and turns in 4.28 40-yard dash to impress scouts.  This should solidify to NFL teams that he has the raw skills to connect to his exceptional performance at Clemson.  Should it vault him to the number one pick?  Probably not.  It probably shouldn’t vault him anywhere.  Where he goes will depend on team need and with a lot of teams not looking at running backs early because of the amount available through other means and how of all positions in the NFL, backs break down faster, somewhere in the top 15 is still where he will go.

Now let’s check out Joe Haden, a cornerback from the University of Florida.  Haden was a lock down corner for the Gators, a team that was atop the toughest conference in college football, the SEC, while he was in school.  He was always matched up against the other team’s best receiver and produced with great ball skills and exceptional tackling ability for a corner.  He even blitzes off the corner well for his position.  He was widely considered by Scouts, Inc. and others as the best cornerback in a defensive back-heavy draft.  He grades out as the next Darrelle Revis and has been projected as a top 10 pick, a top 5 pick by others and should be the first corner off the board in April.  Then he comes out to the combine and whiffs on his 40 times, running a 4.57 and a 4.60, not the typical speed of your NFL shutdown corner.  So now all the scouts are curious about whether Haden can be what everyone thought he would be in the NFL.  Questions of if he may slip down in the draft have been asked and anyone who is anyone says that he must have a good 40 time when Florida hosts scouts on its pro day later this month.  Like Spiller, however, the truth about Joe Haden can be seen when watching his film.  Haden comes as advertised when you watch him cover the best wideouts in the SEC and it is my belief that he should still be the first corner off the board.

And then there’s Bruce Campbell.  No, not the guy from Evil Dead, the offensive lineman from the University of Maryland.  Campbell was a mediocre lineman at College Park who wasn’t a full-fledged starter until halfway into the 2008 season, only started 17 games in his college career (only 9 last season), received one vote for the All-ACC Conference team, missed multiple games due to turf toe, underwent minor brain surgery to drain fluid in 2008 and was described by head coach Ralph Friedgen as a player who would go to study hall as opposed to taking the field when spring practices begin.  Campbell went to Indy for the combine and tore things up, having the best 40-yard dash time (4.85) amongst offensive lineman, finished sixth in bench press repetitions (34) and fifth in the vertical jump (32 inches).  Now he is the buzz name as his physical traits have shot him up the board where Scouts, Inc. currently has him listed at 30th with a grade of 91 out of 100 (remember, the top prospect Suh is a 97).  How does this happen?  A guy who has an injury history, hasn’t started that long, has not been honored with any collegiate awards, shows a lack of quality work ethic and is slammed by his head coach is a first round pick because of his combine numbers?  If my Dolphins take this guy, I’ll be furious.

The combine does way too much in determining the viability of these players.  They shouldn’t downgrade athletes who had great college careers like Haden nor upgrade those who had mediocre seasons in school but had great combine workouts like Campbell.  Picks should be made based on the team’s needs and how the organization feels a certain player will fit into a system, along with his viability as a contributor.

If Tim Tebow is drafted it will be because someone believes he will make a good NFL player at the quarterback position or somewhere else.  Will it be because he had a ridiculous vertical leap for a QB (38.5 inches) or a solid 40-yard dash time (4.7 seconds) at a non-speed position?  Hopefully not.  Hopefully it will be because someone loved the fire he showed and the desire he has to make it.  If a team has faith that he will succeed and if the general manager and coach have job security enough to develop him at the next level, then he will be picked higher and have a job somewhere next year.

Did his combine performance change any of that?

What we need to do is to stop relying on this exhibition of track competitions as a tool for evaluating players who have three or four seasons of work to break down.  The NFL and its network have done a great job of having the combine and the free agent period bridge the gap between the Super Bowl and the draft, making it so that we never stop talking about pro football (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

But shouldn’t the best way to judge football player’s value be how he plays. . .I don’t know -FOOTBALL?  Let’s judge players based upon on-the-field performance, not on-the-track performance.

Watching our athletes’ behavior…

No cliché in sports lore is older than the refrain of players wanting to represent themselves, their team and the league well…on and off the floor or field. Recently, our beloved athletes’ behavior fits a different sports cliché: “they’re making a lot of unforced errors.”

Looking through the pages of ESPN in the past two months has been an adventure in comedy as several stories seem like they should have come directly from spoof movies like Major League or Slapshot.

Washington Wizards’ guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton certainly shot (sorry, had to) themselves to the top of the bad behavior list after both were suspended for the rest of the 2009-10 season. Arenas was charged with a felony and Crittenden a misdemeanor last month. The two pulled guns on each other in the locker room after arguing over a card game that took place on the team plane.

Thankfully, the Wizards reportedly banned card games on the team plane.

The last straw for Arenas before his suspension was the stunt he pulled in pre-game introductions where he pulled out pistols using his fingers and “play shot” teammates. He was suspended the next day. Stellar behavior from one of the league’s stars, right?

Perhaps the saddest part of this particular story was that the late Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington franchise since 1964, was an anti-violence advocate that changed the team’s name from Bullets to Wizards because of the connotation associated with it.

But Arenas and Crittenton don’t even make my top spot in the list of boneheaded moves in the way of poorly behaving athletes in the last month. Here’s my top five:

5. University of Florida DE Carlos Dunlap’s DUI Arrest

On the Tuesday before the SEC Championship game, which very should have been called a national semifinal, between the Gators and Alabama, Dunlap was arrested at 3:25 a.m. and charged with driving under the influence (SEE HERE). This came in the beginning of the Gators’ week of preparation to play the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship and served as a distraction as practice began. Dunlap was so drunk that he was stopped at a traffic light on a green when officers approached the car and observed that he was snoozing, slumped over the wheel.

One would think that every player leading up to this big of a game would be on his best behavior and focused only on the task at hand. Dunlap’s absence may have been part of the reason that Florida lost to the Tide. His lack of commitment to a program above himself would be the main reason I would not want my team drafting him this April when the NFL convenes at Radio City Music Hall. Scouts, Inc. currently has Dunlap rated at #21. Here’s hoping Miami doesn’t select him.

4. University of Southern California WR Joe McKnight’s SUV

The 2006 Land Rover registered in Joe McKnight’s girlfriend’s name looked really nice at the USC practice facility in late 2009. The car was purchased for $27,000 by Adam Schenter, according to the California DMV. Schenter is a businessman and marketing specialist with no known ties to the USC program. However, his known ties to McKnight include a company Schenter owned that registered the website http://www.4joemcknight.com. Check the LA Times’ story on the controversy HERE.

McKnight ended up sitting out the Trojans’ bowl game and the investigation is not over yet, but when you play for a program like USC, a team that is the envy of most national programs and already under investigation because good old O.J. Mayo and others, you should probably watch it a little bit. Did he have to be driving the Land Rover to practice? Maybe he could have just saved it for times he took out his girlfriend and mother of his child to a nice meal paid for by Schenter or a booster. Driving it to practice each day where reporters and cameras are on a daily basis was more boneheaded than accepting the SUV in the first place. It’d be a little more obvious if he showed up in a 2003 Elantra or came using public transportation. McKnight should get a nice Schwinn and drive that to practice next year. . .if he stays in school.

3. Buffalo Bills’ RB Marshawn Lynch’s $20 Tip

I like TGI Friday’s as much as anyone, but apparently Marshawn Lynch uses it as something more than a place to grab a burger and maybe a molten chocolate brownie. On December 7, Lynch went to a Friday’s in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg and had an incident where he snatched $20 out of a woman’s hand, a $20 bill that was to be used to pay her check and leave a tip (SEE HERE). Unfortunately for Lynch, the woman’s husband was a cop and filed a police report days later.

Maybe Lynch forgot his wallet in the car and didn’t have his credit card to pay for the French onion soup and Jack Daniel’s flat-iron steak he was about to order. Or maybe he had forgotten that he was a star athlete in his own town and the TGI Friday’s would probably comp him and his picture would end up somewhere on the wall. You know, he would be posing with the general manager and lead cook and the photo would be signed and put somewhere in the lobby. Perhaps he needed the 20 to pay for a babysitter. Or maybe he forgot that he signed a 10.275 million dollar contract in 2007. But, Lynch has never been the stand-up type. After all, this is the guy who was accused of a hit-and-run with a pedestrian. What would have been nice, would have been if Lynch walked into the Friday’s and announced he would buy everyone a round of drinks as opposed to taking money from TGI’s patrons. They used to make a dang good French dip, but took it off their menu. Maybe Lynch was mad about that. I know I am . . .

2. Arenas and Crittenton

I can’t pass this one up as part of my top two. The fact that it happened in a pro sports locker room, was over a card game and that it caused card games on the team plane to be banned still makes me giggle. But, the top spot was not even close. . .

1. East Carolina University Dessert Fight at the Liberty Bowl

Leonard Paulk and Jonathan Williams really like dessert. So much so that they fought over one at the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl’s awards luncheon that preceded the game played on January 2 (SEE HERE). According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the two players nearly flipped over a table and one had the other in a headlock and was hitting him. ECU’s entire roster and coaching staff were at the luncheon, as was that of their opponents, the University of Arkansas, who won the game in overtime, 20-17. ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz suspended the two players for the game. The seldom-used running back Williams tallied 38 yards on 14 carries this season before his season ended due to a knee injury. Williams has been suspended by ECU twice before, so he is no stranger to trouble. Paulk, a defensive back, played in all 13 regular season games as a nickel/dime back and on special teams.

The burning question in everyone’s mind is: what was for dessert? Was it a nice piece of New York cheesecake? A brownie? Did they have tiramisu? Or maybe it was a cake that said “Congratulations to ECU and Arkansas!”, and Williams and Paulk really wanted the piece that said “ECU” like five-year-olds want the piece of birthday cake with the flower on it. What kind of teammates get in a fight at an awards banquet with media in attendance? They should have split the piece and then chalked it up as the event that brought the team together, the defining moment of their season.

The best part about this whole ordeal was that Holtz jumped ship at the end of the bowl season to take over the University of South Florida program, and that’s where this gets a little complicated. You see, USF fired their coach, Jim Leavitt, after he allegedly grabbed a player by his throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it all. Did USF officials think that Holtz would bring a new discipline to the program after hearing of the dessert altercation? Maybe they got ahold of the tape from that luncheon and saw really good form in the headlock and figured the USF defense would benefit from that type of instruction.

After Holtz left, who did ECU turn to as a replacement? None other than Ruffin McNeill. Yes, that name does sound familiar, doesn’t it? That’s because McNeill was the interim coach who replaced Mike Leach at Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl. Leach, of course, was accused of improperly dealing with the concussion of Adam Jones and was fired. McNeill better make sure the dessert table is fully stocked at all ECU functions, and as he begins to assemble his staff a pastry chef may be at the top of the list. I hear the Pirates like chocolate. . .