NBA

Houston Rockets (4-0) at Miami Heat (3-0)
Micah's Pick: Heat 102 – 100
Both teams are off to a great start. While the Heat suddenly find themselves in a world without King James, they seem to be adjusting rather well thus far with Bosh taking over as the #1 option.

Blake's Pick: Heat 101 – 96
So far, the Heat haven’t missed a beat in the “Post-James Era”. Adding a Luol Deng is a pretty high consolation prize. The Rockets are lethal offensively and hard to stop once they get going with Harden, Howard and co. I’ll take the home team in a toss up.

Shawn's Pick: Rockets 102 – 94
How about this for a an early indication of what the NBA Finals may be? This will not be the match up we will see in June, but it's an excellent early season showdown. The Beard for the Rockets will never forget Miami. It was the Heat who shut him down in the Finals a few seasons ago as a member of The Thunder. Harden will redeem himself.

 

Los Angeles Clippers (3-1) at Golden State Warriors (3-0)
Micah's Pick: Clippers 121 – 114
Two high powered offenses in the western conference. Curry and Thompson have been very impressive thus far for Golden State, but I see the Clippers edging them out here.

Blake's Pick: Warriors 107 – 100
The Warriors are set up to win for a long time with the “Splash Brothers”. As long as CP3 and Blake are healthy, the Clips match up well with anyone. Again, I see this being a toss up and I’ll go home team.

Shawn's Pick: Clippers 106 – 102
Intriguing matchup in the west. I'm feeling Blake and Chris Paul to slow down their Nor Cal rivals. Stephen Curry will drain his share as expected and reach his average of 25.3 ppt, but the Clippers will win.

 

NCAA

Baylor Bears (7-1) at Oklahoma Sooners (6-2)
Micah's Pick: Sooners 38 – 31
Oklahoma is 21-2 all time vs Baylor. However, those two losses have come in the last three years. Both Baylor wins have come in Waco though and the Bears have never beaten the Sooners in Norman. Look for the Sooners to continue the streak on Saturday.

Blake's Pick: Sooners 42 – 37
OU played their best at Iowa State. Knight looked unstoppable. Baylor IS unstoppable. Petty and company will score theirs, but I think OU gets the home win and keep their high bowl hopes alive.

Shawn's Pick: Sooners 37 – 28
The Sooners won 21-straight vs the Bears, but have lost 2 of the past 3 against Baylor. The home field advantage will play a major role in this one. No way, Bryce Petty and the Bears leave Norman with a win. OU appears to have repaired whatever was ailing them.

 

Oregon Ducks (8-1) at Utah Utes (6-2)
Micah's Pick: Ducks 42 – 24
Oregon is in the drivers seat for a playoff berth. All signs point to another Ducks victory.

Blake's Pick: Ducks 44 – 31
Oregon should win this one convincingly. Utah has been really good this year, and will have a rowdy crowd ready to welcome the Ducks, but too much Mariota.

Shawn's Pick: Utes 34 – 31
Salt Lake City is not exactly known as an intimidating college football venue, but it is underrated. I'm placing the Ducks on an upset alert.

 

Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1) at LSU Tigers (6-2)
Micah's Pick: Crimson Tide 13 – 10
While the selection committee would probably be just fine showcasing these two SEC West teams in a playoff match-up, it will have to do for a regular season showdown. Whoever gets into the endzone twice wins.

Blake's Pick: Tigers 21 – 17
Doesn’t get much better than a showdown of the Titans in Death Valley. A 7 PM game time bodes well for LSU as Les and his crew are nearly unbeatable under the lights in Baton Rouge.. Here’s my “upset” of the week.

Shawn's Pick: Crimson Tide 24 – 20
"Calling Baton Rouge".. Garth Brooks was calling Baton Rouge for a lady friend in that song, but Nick Saban will be calling for bodyguards. The Tiger nation remembers him leaving LSU like it was yesterday. I'm not sure Saban's boys will be treated with southern hospitality, but I do believe the Crimson Tide will play well enough to escape with a win on the bayou.

 

Kansas State Wildcats (7-1) at TCU Horned Frogs (7-1)
Micah's Pick: Horned Frogs 42 – 28
This match-up has not only heavy conference title implications, but also national playoff implications. Whichever team wins will be primed to win the conference and potentially earn a shot to compete vs the SEC in the playoffs. Big game, lots riding on the line for both programs.

Blake's Pick: Horned Frogs 38 – 34
Here’s your Big 12 Championship game, nearly. Whoever wins this one will have the driver’s seat, so long as OU beats Baylor. Kansas St is really sound, but TCU just finds a way. (Got screwed at Baylor). At home, I think TCU comes out ahead in the end, barely.

Shawn's Pick: Horned Frogs 30 – 24
I'm torn on this one. We'll see if the Horny Frogs are legit or not against a true defense. The winner has the inside track to the Big 12 Championship with a few weeks remaining to play. Ole Cowtown doesn't exactly instill fear, but I do believe Gary Patterson shocks the world by scoring some points.

 

Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1) at Michigan State Spartans (7-1)
Micah's Pick: Spartans 24 – 14
While the Big 10 is clearly down this year, Michigan State is a legit program and should take down the Buckeyes with relative ease.

Blake's Pick: Spartans 30 – 21
I, for one, think Michigan State is the far superior team in this matchup. Ohio St lost at home to VT and should have gotten beat in Happy Valley at State College 2 weeks ago. Michigan State boasts a tremendous defense that I think will keep OSU in check.

Shawn's Pick: Spartans 27 – 21
Yawwwnnnn!! Big 10 football does absolutely nothing for me, but the Spartans do impress me. 

 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1) at Arizona State Sun Devils (7-1)
Micah's Pick: Fighting Irish 27 – 24
Notre Dame should likely be 8-0 heading into this contest, but suffered a tough defeat in Tallahassee a couple of weeks ago. Look for another close game here with the Irish squeaking one out and clamoring for a playoff spot.

Blake's Pick: Sun Devils 37 – 24
Todd Graham is a heck of an offensive mind. Brian Kelly is a heck of a preparer. This may be a great game. If so, ND wins a close one, if it’s lopsided, Arizona State is clicking. I’ll go with the home team.

Shawn's Pick: Fighting Irish 24 – 17
The Fighting Irish never shy away from a  challenging schedule. WOW!! On the road again for a national game in Tempe. Todd Graham has a solid Sun Devils team, but Notre Dame gets the win.

 

NFL

Miami Dolphins (5-3) at Detroit Lions (6-2)
Micah's Pick: Lions 28 – 17
While Dolphins have been on a terror of late, the Lions are finally getting healthy with the return of Megatron and Bush. Will the Dolphins defense be able to contain Megatron in his return? I'm not betting on it.

Blake's Pick: Lions 24 – 20
My beloved Miami Dolphins are playing meaningful football in November. This is a huge game for both teams. Detroit boasts the best overall defense in the NFL, but Miami has laid the wood in previous weeks. I hate to do it, but I think a healthy Megatron and the Detroit passing game is the difference.

Shawn's Pick: Lions 27 – 24
Miami is favored by  a field goal in this matchup of unpredictable quarterbacks. Stafford can light it up and he and his Lions are at home. Hmmm… I'm torn though, but Motown takes it.

 

Kansas City Chiefs (5-3) at Buffalo Bills (5-3)
Micah's Pick: Bills 21 – 14
When in doubt, roll with the home team. Kyle Orton to Sammy Watkins for the win.

Blake's Pick: Chiefs 23 – 21
The Bills, under the leadership of Kyle Orton have played good football. The Chiefs started slow, but are coming around as expected. A healthy Jamaal Charles is key, here. I expect a close one, with a tight finish.

Shawn's Pick: Chiefs 24 – 20
Stingy defenses go at it, but this in Buffalo where weather may be a factor. However, KC has Jamaal Charles. He is probable. But, my decisive factor is Kyle Orton at qb for Buffalo. I don't mean that in a positive way.

NBA

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Clippers
Micah's Pick: Clippers 116 – 97
The Thunder are just too depleted to start the season. I don't see this one even being real close. Westbrook kept the Thunder in the game vs the Blazers for three quarters, but the Clippers are much better than the Blazers.

Blake's Pick: Clippers 110 – 90
The Thunder are in bad shape. With only 9 players, I can't see this being too competitive. The Clippers are good enough to win the West this year.

David's Pick: Clippers 107 – 95
Obviously the Thunder are going to struggle early. At LA just adds to the margin.
 

New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
Micah's Pick: Cavs 95 – 82
King James comes home to a high profile, yet easily winnable game vs the Knicks.

Blake's Pick: Cavs 103 – 94
Ahh, the highly anticipated return of King James to his hometown. Add in Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, budding scorer Dion Waiters, and big man Anderson Varajeo, and you have yourself quite the ensemble. Melo will get his, too, though. Cavs win.

David's Pick: Cavs 101 – 88
Are the Knicks going to be any good at all? We know the Cavs should win this one easily at home.
 

NCAA

Oklahoma Sooners at Iowa State Cyclones
Micah's Pick: Sooners 55 – 14
The Sooners may have blown any chance they had at a slot in the 4 team playoff, but their pride is still on the line. I see the Sooners coming out and running up the score on a patchy Iowa St defense.

Blake's Pick: Sooners 42 – 23
OU needs a win. They need it NOW. Any more losses, and OU is staring the Liberty Bowl in the face. I think OU is too big on both sides of the trenches and too fast outside.

David's Pick: Sooners 48 – 24
You do know that OU has only lost 5x in 78 games against ISU right?
 

TCU Horned Frogs at West Virginia Mountaineers
Micah's Pick: Horned Frogs 52 – 41
TCU has made one of the more memorable turnarounds in recent memory. Going 4-8 last year to starting 6-1 this year has been nothing short of amazing. Boykin has truly raised his game from a year ago and this is now one of the top offenses in the nation.

Blake's Pick: Horned Frogs 47 – 37
This will be an epic shootout. TCU hung 82 on Texas Tech. The Frogs may not score that many in any basketball game this year. West Virginia has a sudden swagger to their defense after naming a new DC mid season. I expect a lot of fireworks, with the better “team” winning. TCU’s defense gets a stop or two.

David's Pick: Mountaineers 41 – 38
Yes this is my one upset special of the week. If TCU clears this hurdle they will win the Big 12.
 

Auburn Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels 
Micah's Pick: Tigers 38 – 20
Ole Miss has been playing a bit above their heads all year. Auburn states their case for a spot in the SEC college football playoffs.

Blake's Pick: Tigers 35 – 31
It may be just me, but I’m not quite sure Auburn is as good as they were in 2013. They’re still really good, but not quite that team they were last year. Bo Marshall is capable of being a Heisman-type quarterback. He also can be really bad. See last week vs LSU. Auburn has enough in the end.

David's Pick: Rebels 24 – 21
I see a bounce back for Ole Miss playing at home.
 

Florida State Seminoles at Louisville Cardinals
Micah's Pick: Seminoles 31 – 17
Florida State's last hurdle until they skate into the playoffs. While I don't think they are near as good as last year's championship bunch, they're good enough to roll through the ACC.

Blake's Pick: Cardinals 27 – 24
This game is on Thursday night. National TV will be there. Bobby Petrino would want nothing more than to beat FSU in front of the entire nation. Florida State has won 23 games in a row, easily the longest winning streak in the county. Louisville will be ready. They rolled “The U” earlier at home and are always tough at home. UPSET ALERT!

David's Pick: Seminoles 27 – 21
I know this could be the other big upset but I just don’t see it.
 

NFL

Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys
Micah's Pick: Cardinals 34 – 24
With Romo banged up and the Cardinals coming to town, I can easily see another Cowboys slip up here.

Blake's Pick: Cowboys 21 – 20
This game hinges on Tony Romo’s availability. He claims he will play if he can manage the pain. Arizona is quietly 6-1 and has the best record in the NFL. Dallas is coming off a heart breaking loss to Washington. I think Arizona is really disciplined and that will show. Dallas needs to get to the bye week on a win… I’ll go with the home team.

David's Pick: Cardinals 23 – 20
A lot of this game depends on whether Romo is 100% healthy or not. Dallas defense is also missing a key player and their two losses have both come at home at the unfriendly confines of JerryWorld.
 

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots
Micah's Pick: Broncos 45 – 42
Denver hangs on in the highly anticipated Manning vs Brady shootout.

Blake's Pick: Broncos 33 – 27
Manning vs. Brady. Doesn’t get much better than this. Manning is playing his best ball nearing 40 years old. Brady is playing out of his mind, too. This may be the best game of the year. In the end, I think Denver has too many weapons on both sides of the ball.

David's Pick: Broncos 35 – 24
It seems like Denver is on a mission this year and New England is too up and down.
 

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburg Steelers
Micah's Pick: Steelers 28 – 21
The Steelers are riding high from their big win over the Colts last week. Look for the home team to hold court.

Blake's Pick: Steelers 27 – 20
This game is always fun. They do NOT like each other. Pittsburgh is coming off quite the performance. Big Ben throws 6 TD and the offense hangs half a hundred. That’s hard to do in the NFL. Baltimore is steady, yet again. I think Pitt has the advantage of Heinz field and a guy named Antonio Brown.

David's Pick: Steelers 20 – 17
This is truly a toss-up game and I’m going with the home team and Big Ben.
 

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Micah's Pick: Saints 35 – 17
Can the Saints win on the road? I may regret this one.

Blake's Pick: Panthers 24 – 21
Major division implications on this game. Carolina is tough at home. New Orleans seems to be clicking after their big win over Green Bay. Jimmy Graham is getting healthy and Brees is…well…Brees. I think Cam Newton has a chip on his shoulder at all times. I’ll take defense over offense (note: Seattle/Denver Super Bowl – Jan 2014)

David's Pick: Saints 38 – 28
New Orleans has to win on the road at some point right? And Carolina’s defense has been nowhere near as good as last year.

"Today, we spell redemption [L-E-B-]R-O-N." -Wes Mantooth

King James comes home and Skylar Grey cashes in on the licensing rights to her "Coming Home" song. Going into the NBA offseason I knew that it was possible that LeBron could opt-out of his contract and sign somewhere else. And I knew that the Cavs had been basically structuring their entire organization with the hopes of landing 'Bron in this years off-season. But I never really thought it would happen.

After all, LeBron had been to four straight finals with the Heat, winning two of those four! How could you look at that type of success and objectively think, "Nah, that's not enough." And then there was the extremely messy break-up between King James and Cleveland. How could he ever go back to a city that seemingly hated him? Especially with an owner who would so publicly express his disdain for LeBron leaving the Cavs. What in the world would make someone want to go back to a city that burned his jersey?? 

Redemption. That's what. LeBron has won multiple championships in Miami, but has been haunted by the memory of Cleveland. Of the "decision." He has been haunted by the fact that he left his home town in such a catastrophic way that he couldn't help but feel compelled to come back. And that's what he did. 

But can it really work? Can LeBron truly bring glory to his home town franchise? Can he turn Cleveland into a championship town? Can he take a franchise that has been laughable before and after him? Will he be able to erase the painful memories of him leaving?

Probably. There's a book that says that "love covers a multitude of sins." Well, in sports, winning does as well. If LeBron wins and can bring a championship to Cleveland he will be nothing short of a hero. Forever enshrined in Cleveland glory. He would essentially go from a mercenary villain that he was portrayed as in Miami, to a home town hero. This is now what LeBron is chasing. Sure he's still after being the greatest of all time. Yes he wants to surpass MJ. But instead of doing that simply through winning championships, he now attempts it by taking a franchise out of the ashes and making them into champions. 

But for him to do this, he likely will need a little bit more help than what he has right now in Cleveland. If D-Wade and Chris Bosh aren't a good enough supporting cast to win it all, I can't imagine Kyrie and an unproven Wiggins will be. Could Andrew Wiggins turn into a stud in a few years? Sure! Especially if he's playing beside LeBron. But the question is if LeBron is ok with not making the finals for the next two years? I know he said he's willing to be patient in his letter on SI.com, but if there's an opportunity to win now, don't you think he'd want to jump on it? I sure do. And that opportunity is Love. Not the emotion, or feeling or verb love. But Kevin Love.

Look, I know this angle is nothing new. I'm not claiming to be some ESPN NBA analyst citing some "source" I have, but rather simply as a fan. Observing what could be possible and what would be awesome to watch. Kevin Love would pair up perfectly with LeBron. Let's face it, Kyrie is a younger, better D-Wade and Love is a younger, better and more all-around player than Bosh has ever been. With as much success as LeBron had in Miami with this formula, why wouldn't he try and replicate it with better pieces? He'd be crazy not to! LeBron, Kyrie and Love. I wouldn't even want my Spurs to face that in the finals. No way!

Reportedly, though, the one thing that is holding up this trade from getting done is the Cavaliers number one pick, Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves want him and the Cavs don't want to let him go. So you mean to tell me that if you're Dan Gilbert (the owner of the Cavs) that you aren't going to trade a rookie for a guy who averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds last season? WHAT?! Are you on crack?!!! Kevin Love is a double-double machine! And Andrew Wiggins has proven nothing! Does he have unlimited potential? Maybe. But are you willing to gamble on someone's potential over another's proven production? Not me, homie. I'm going to take that production all day every day. 

Whatever happens from here on out in Cleveland is up to fate to decide. What we do know is that LeBron's finally doing things the right way again. Will he succeed? Will he be able to bring Cleveland a championship? Who knows. One thing is for sure though, it's going to be fun to watch. 

The Group of Death

This World Cup the Americans found themselves staring face-to-face with the "Group of Death." This is a term given to a group of the World Cup in which typically is the most difficult group deemed by the media. With Germany, Portugal and Ghana in our group we were the undisputed Group of Death. Germany and Portugal are both top 5 teams in the world and Ghana had been the team to knock the US out of the World Cup the last two cycles. Things were not looking promising for the Yanks going into the World Cup, but rather than lay down and let the big dogs run over us the USMNT channeled the chant from the American Outlaws, "I believe that we will win!!"

And that's what they did in their first match. Win. Beating Ghana 2-1 on an amazing set piece header from John Brooks in the 83rd minute the USMNT put the demons of World Cup past firmly behind them. Despite a sloppy performance when the final whistle blew, we walked away with a victory and three points. Setting the stage for a showdown against a beat up Portugal team who would be missing two of their best players due to a red card and an injury. Even still, they're a top five team in the world rankings with arguably the best player in the world right now in Cristiano Ronaldo. Nothing was going to be handed to the USMNT.

After a weeks worth of media hype, Sunday finally came and with it the hope of a nation getting behind their soccer team in efforts to will us out of the Group of Death. Then five minutes into the match we gift wrap Portugal a goal and the doubts begin to rain in. How could we compete with a top five team? Are the flood gates going to open now for the Portuguese side? The US will never be able to hang with the top dogs of soccer. But what transpired in the coming minutes seemingly quieted those fears. The USMNT actually started taking Portugal to task a little bit. They began to battle back from an unfortunate goal and started to dominate the time of possession. Then their offense began to get going. By half the score line was still 1-0, but somehow I couldn't help but find myself filled with hope. We had taken more shots at half time then we did the entire game against Ghana. Could we put something together in the second half and actually tie this thing up? Take me back to Obama's 2008 campaign because YES WE CAN!

Jermaine Jones from outside the box freezes the keeper with a brilliant strike and levels the score at 1-1! Wow! The excitement in our house was through the roof. But that goal was no fluke either because the USMNT kept pressing. My family thought that with the score being tied Portugal would wake up and start playing hard again, but what happened next sent us into a frenzy. Clint Dempsey found himself in the right place at the right time and just like that, with approximately 15 minutes left, the US was beating Portugal 2-1. 

All of the sudden the conversation was no longer about getting out of the game with a tie, but advancing to the knock-out rounds with a victory! We were playing so well, and against Portugal! The minutes continued to pass by and our defense was actually playing extremely well, negating everything that Portugal tried. Even containing the best player in the world, Ronaldo, albeit that he likely wasn't 100% but no matter! The 90th minute arrived and we're starting to prepare for celebration. Five more minutes of stoppage time and victory is ours! The defense continues to hold, we even look like we're putting together a little offense when the 94th minute arrived and the ball fell into Ronaldo's feet with room to work on the right side. Our defense caught in transition, Ronaldo sent a beautiful cross inside the box that found the head of Varela who buried the shot along with our dreams. And just like that, the match is over. The latest goal in World Cup history. 

Had you told me going into the Portugal game that we would walk away with a tie I would have been elated. But the way it happened has since made me feel a little queasy. I keep telling myself that a tie is a great thing for us and puts us into the position to move out of the Group of Death. But then I keep remembering those twenty-or-so minutes when it seemed as if we were going to do the impossible and beat Portugal. The whole match agreed with the outcome. We had out played Portugal and deserved the win. It was ours for the taking. But then it was snatched out of our hands by a simple lapse of defensive hustle. I think I'm going to vomit.

This one hurt. Almost worse than a loss. And I absolutely hate to lose. If you ask me if I either love to win or hate to lose my answer every time is I hate to lose. But this draw, while it still was a positive for the USMNT, has been eating at me for the last 24 hours. 

Even still, with all things considered, we're in a position to move on. It's time to move past the draw and look to the positives. Maybe this article with act as a form of catharsis. If we can hang with a beat up Portugal side and if Germany can tie Ghana then who knows what can happen this Thursday. Yes I know that Germany is maybe the best team in this whole tournament, but if Ghana can pull off a tie then why can't we? Maybe Germany underestimated Ghana which lead to their tie, but I'm going to bet that Jurgern Klinsmann is telling the USMNT that we can hang with Germany. And honestly, after watching the Portugal match, maybe we can! No, you know what, WE CAN! Why not us? Why not now? Our guys believe in themselves and so do I. 

Whatever happens this Thursday I am going to be proud of our guys. We were given little to no chance in advances out of the group stage and here we sit going into the last game of group play with a great shot at making it out. If we don't advance to the knock-out round will I be disappointed? Of course. But I'm not going to consider it a failure at all because what I've seen thus far in the World Cup has given me hope that we can compete with just about anyone. If we get smoked by Germany and end up losing by 5, big deal? We aren't expected to be able to play with them yet. But we're on our way. We have some young talent that in four years could take us to the next level. Does that help right now? No, but it ought to give us hope. Our team is finally headed in the right direction and maybe for once we can elevate our game to not just be an after thought on the world stage but rather a formidable foe. 

I'm interested to see how the Germany games goes. And you know what? I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!