The Stanford Cardinal are the defending Pac-12 champions, and when looking at the north division of the conference, there’s really only one team standing in their way of making it back to the Pac-12 championship game in 2014.
The National League lineup has a couple of characters in the outfield in Carlos Gomez and Yasiel Puig – you have to wonder if the grass might catch fire.
Illinois put their faith in Tim Beckman a couple years ago, and so far it hasn’t worked out. Tim Beckman is definitely on the hot seat now. If Illinois doesn’t win at least six games this year to become bowl eligible, I would expect Beckman to be on his way out of Champaign.
Purdue had the worst season in its 126 year football career last year. The Boilermakers went 1-11 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten Conference. Purdue was one of the worst teams the Big Ten has ever seen.
Ohio State started last year 12-0 before losing their last two games of the season to Michigan State and Clemson. For a team with such lofty expectations, even a 12 win season felt like a bit of a disappointment.
Michigan fans are never going to be satisfied with a 7-6 season. Brady Hoke came in and turned the program around right away, but now Michigan is struggling to keep their success going under Hoke. In his first year, the team went 11-2. In the past two years, they have gone 8-5 and then 7-6.
The professional ranks take a break from the regular season to begin the week, but a select few stars will put their skills on display in Monday’s Home Run Derby. Both the American League and National League will be putting some dynamic power hitters on display.
The MLB baseball handicapping season is set to take a break as the All-Star break provides all 30 teams with a four-day break, but there is no break for the alert bettor.
Iowa went 11-2 in 2009, but they haven’t won more than eight games since that season. The Hawkeyes had a quality 8-5 season last year. Their first three losses came against teams that lost a combined one game in the regular season (Northern Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan State).
It would be tough to find a coach who has gotten more out of less than Jerry Kill. Well Bill Snyder would fit the bill, but outside of Snyder I can’t think of anyone who fits any more than Jerry Kill.
Bill O’Brien did a tremendous job holding together the Penn State football program through an extremely difficult period. There were many who thought it was the impossible job, but O’Brien did a great job getting his players to believe. O’Brien has moved on to be a head coach in the NFL.
Northwestern was unbeaten and ranked 16th in the nation heading into their home contest against Ohio State last year. They ended up losing in heartbreaking fashion despite playing very well, and after that loss Northwestern’s season would never be the same.
Ignoring the location it is impossible to have conceived that Germany would blitz Brazil 7-1 at a World Cup.
It was a season of change in Philadelphia last year with a new head coach at the helm for the first time since 1999. Chip Kelly moved to ranks of the NFL after a very successful stint at the University of Oregon and quickly put his unique stamp on this team.
The Dallas Cowboys have been stuck in neutral for the past three seasons with a record of 24-24 and it has been five years since they last made an appearance in the postseason.
Best Player vs. Best Team – Argentina and Germany for World Cup 2014
Rio de Janeiro will play host to the culmination one of the most riveting World Cup tournaments in history Sunday when Argentina who methodically earned their way to the Final takes on Germany who used flash and some eye-popping results to get to the deciding game.
