Nice try.

The Worldwide Leader’s resident college football scout (not Mel Kiper, he’s the Worldwide Leader’s draft guru — different qualifications, different paygrade) was arguing, probably rightly so, that Stanton was probably looking at late 2nd, early 3rd round. Not so said Rosenhausen.

The agent claims to have been told that Stanton is projecting in the late first round or the early second. I think Stanton, who’s currently rated by NFL.com’s Vic Carruci as the fifth best quarterback in the draft behind Quinn, Russell, BYU’s John Beck and Houston’s Kevin Kolb, could go anywhere between the 2nd and 3rd round but certainly not the first. When you look at who’s picking at the end of the first, the need of those teams for a young quarterback, a young quarterback who’s going to want first round money regardless of whether or not he plays, just isn’t there. Teams like Baltimore, Chicago, New York Jets or Kansas City have quarterback depth issues but are not at all likely to fill those needs in the first round.

Sorry, Drew. Nice try, though.

TAKEO SPIKES IS AN E-A-G-L-E!

Despite the fact that Eagles management has claimed that there’s nothing wrong with the linebacking corps, it appears they were exploring their options and landed two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes for defensive tackle Darwin Walker and a conditional late-round pick in next year’s draft.

Ignoring for a moment the obvious continuing ineptitude of the Bills’ front office, this is a great move for the Eagles. Being a fan, I’ve long complained that the linebacking corps has been the weak link of the defense. The front office still believed in Mark Simoneau  long after fans had given up on him for being too small to stop the run and too slow to be effective in pass coverage. Dhani Jones was kind of a sexy acquisition after the departure of Carlos Emmons to the Giants but as it turns out he dresses much better than he plays. Matt McCoy is a tough player but maybe more of the Larry Izzo mold and is not a starter in this league. The Eagles drafted Chris Gocong last year but I remain skeptical that he can make the jump from college defensive end to NFL linebacker. There are players who have made that jump but the Eagles need to keep in mind that not every player has the ability of Demarcus Ware.

Finally a deal that makes sense. As a fan, I’m worried that they passed on re-upping Donté Stallworth (who may be headed for trouble) to give Kevin Curtis, a lifetime slot receiver, number 1 or number 2 receiver money but this Spikes deal makes all the sense in the world.

If Broderick Bunkley can wake up from his coma and Mike Patterson continues to come on, in addition to the signing of Montae Reagor, Walker becomes obviously expendable. Kelly Holcombe is also a proven backup who can come on if A.J. Feely comes out and stinks on ice.

As an Eagles fan, I applaud this move. We got a great player and didn’t give up our first round pick (which we should use on Reggie Nelson… I’m just saying.. or Aaron Ross). As the friend of a Bills fan, I feel bad… and I’m over it.

The Indianapolis Star is reporting that IU football coach Terry Hoeppner while he attends to “personal heath matters.”

IU’s Media Relations people are being good and vague, as media relations people are ought to do but I think most people can assume that it’s something to do with the brain surgery he had last year.

For whatever reason, this news is hitting me kind of hard. And I suspect that anyone who closely follows (or in Terry Hutchens case, covers) Indiana athletics.

I’m a fan of all sports, especially college football but I am, and will always be, a Hoosier.

I guess I’m not horribly surprised by the news that Hep is taking some time off to make sure his health is in order. I spoke with Coach for a story I did on the National Championship game in January and, having heard him speak before, he seemed tired and rundown. In spite of that, he was still funny and incredibly sharp and his passion and love for the game of football is palpable when you talk to him.

IU football has been a turd. During my four years there, we had some gems — beating Oregon in Eugene during DiNardo’s last year, beating Minnesota on what had to be the windiest day ever in Bloomington and last year, Hep’s Hoosiers upset Iowa and came 1 win away from being bowl eligible for the first time in over a decade.

If anyone can turn this program around.. it’s Coach Hep and if anyone deserves our thoughts and our prayers.. it’s Coach Hep.

My only two losses were:

VCU 79, Duke 77

Easily the best finish of the day and was also my first loss of the day.  As much as I would have liked to run the day 16-for-16, seeing Duke head out of the tournament in the first round was totally worth it. Pitt struggled with Wright State last night but I don’t think that the Panthers will have any trouble disposing of the Rams. I don’t see this year’s Colonial  champs as a repeat of George Mason.

Michigan State 61, Marquette 49

(I think I like this picture so much because it looks like Tom Crean is singing) Plainly, Marquette just didn’t show up. You’ve got to give some credit to Tom Izzo. This is obviously one of Izzo’s least talented teams in recent memory but he has this kids believing in the system and playing great defense. They held Marquette to just 31% percent from the field and judging by the way North Carolina let Eastern Kentucky back into the game in the second half last night, the second round showdown between Roy Williams and Tom Izzo becomes a whole lot more interesting.

My answer is that we hopefully won’t have one. I firmly believe that upsets.. like the one’s we saw last year’s are bad for fans and bad for the tournament. A couple of upsets into the first weekend makes for exciting games and chatter about shattered brackets but who wants to see a sweet 16 match-up between Ohio St. and Albany? Not this guy.

People who fancy themselves as college basketball fans like to try to pick upsets. It’s the challenge of the bracket and frankly it’s the reason people like it so much. The chance to pick an upset that no one saw coming is the reason why people are Oral Roberts to beat Washington St.

But that being said, here’s a couple of my upset specials before the games tip-off.

As much as I hate the Crybaby, Bruce Weber has his team playing good basketball at the right time of year. When you match the Illini with the wildly inconsistent Hokies of Virginia Tech, I think it’s completely plausible that the 12-seed Illini bump off 5th seed Virginia Tech.

The only 10-seed that I have beating a 7. I think this team, between Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton has the potential to run a team out of the gym. UNLV is a tough defensive team but I think the Yellow Jackets have seen a tougher schedule and are frankly better than the  Runnin’ Rebs. Had the Paul Hewitt’s team played in the Mountain West, who fielded just two teams in the tournaments, their record would have been significantly higher. This team could be dangerous and a very tough out for Wisconsin in the second round.

With March Madness tipping off Thursday (sorry play-in game participants).. everyone in your office or class becomes Andy Katz or Digger Phelps. But I guess that’s what makes this event great, right?

After looking at the brackets, there are certainly some interesting match-up possibilities. Of course, those matchups could be completely torched by upsets (i.e. last year) but here’s a couple as my bracket predicts.

Midwest Regional: Oregon/Wisconsin - Drinking the Pac-10 Kool-Aid is something I vowed never to do again but I’m awfully impressed by this Oregon team. The chance to see the Ducks, who handled any and all comers in the Pac-10 tournament, square off against the Badgers (see: POY-candidate Alando Tucker) is a game I’d pay to see. Oregon/Florida - Every one of the Worldwide Leader’s talking heads are picking the Gators to return to the Final Four but I’m not sold. The SEC fielded an unspeakably weak field this year and I’m not sure the Gators have what it takes to beat Arizona, Maryland and Oregon but this game could potentially be a classic. Taj Porter, Aaron Brooks and Bryce Taylor vs. Joke-kim, Brewer and Horford.

West Regional: Of the four regionals (go Hoosiers) this is probably the weakest and least exciting (go Hoosiers). The only potentially exciting matchup would be the elite 8 showdown between Kansas and UCLA. Though I have Kansas in the Final Four, I think they’re the most enigmatic. Bill Self’s resumé in Lawrence has been far from excellent and but I think the Jayhawks will have a relatively easy time disposing of everyone in their half of the bracket. The possible Pitt/UCLA storyline has people excited but I think Saturday night Pitt showed that if they don’t get good looks from the perimeter and Aaron Gray is defended well in the post, they’re easily beatable.

East regional: Hands-down the most exciting bracket in the tournament. Anyone of these match-ups will be worth watching: Texas/USC, Texas/UNC, BC/Georgetown, Washington St./Georgetown, Georgetown/UNC. If this weekend proved anything, it was that Georgetown is the real deal. The low-post combination of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert might be the best in the country. I’m picking Georgetown to emerge from this impressive pack but I wouldn’t be at all surprised I were wrong.

South regional: O-H-I-O. That’s really all you need to say about this bracket. Memphis is the hottest team in the country, Texas A&M and Acie Law could be a tough out but the Buckeyes will be Georgia-bound when it’s all said and done. This is the bracket with the least amount of intriguing potential match-ups. Ohio State’s biggest challenge will be its own youth and inexperience and even though they’re awfully young — they’re awfully good.

My final four picks:

Considered by many to be a number 1 seed going into the start of conference tournaments, UCLA squandered what credibility they had with a bad loss to Cal last night in the Pac-10 quarterfinals.

I’m certainly guilty of East Coast bias. The Pac-10, both football and basketball, are on way too late for me and I watch the league on probably a dozen occasions in both sports each other. (NCAA tournament and bowl games notwithstanding).

About halfway through January, the buzz started. The Pac-10 is, top to bottom, the best league in college basketball. It was tough to argue with that. UCLA was a powerhouse once more. Washington State was the surprise of the year. Aaron Brooks had Oregon looking really tough and Arizona was a sleeping giant.

With UCLA’s loss to a Cal team that is not even NIT-bound, you have to assume that the league took a serious hit in the eyes of the basketball watching public and, more importantly, the NCAA’s selection committee.

The only way that UCLA gets a number one seed is if Wisconsin, Ohio State, Kansas or UNC fall early in their conference tournaments — and I don’t see that happening.

Based on last night’s performance, or lack thereof (Aaron Afflalo), you’d almost have to believe that the best team in the Pac-10 is Oregon, who manhandled a pretty decent Arizona team.

The Pac-10 is like the sexy girl at the bar that you walk up to only to find out that she’s from Staten Island and has the accent to prove it.

WHEN MASCOTS ATTACK! 

The Indianapolis Star is reporting that the Pacers’ mascot, Boomer, is being sued by a man who underwent recent back surgery and said the mascot tackled him during a free throw shooting contest and caused serious, perhaps permanent injury.

For the Ravens this is a no-brainer. Not only have they filled the void left by Jamal Lewis, who signed a 1-year deal with the Browns yesterday, they’ve made a significant upgrade. McGahee possesses a versatility that Lewis simply did not.

For the Bills.. I mean, come on. A friend of mine, who’s been a Bills fan all his life, said he believed McGahee was never a Western New York guy and I’d tend to agree with him. I’m not sure that Bills fans ever fully accepted McGahee as one of their own but they will certainly miss his production. The Bills have effectively dealt their only consistent offensive weapon. Yikes.

I’ve got to hand it to Bills management, they had the balls to do what the Colts and Seahawks weren’t stupid enough to do — give up a star running back for a 3rd round pick.

On CBS Sportsline today, columnist Gregg Doyel slams the idea of Duke’s biggest cheerleader (Billy Packer is a close second) becoming a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Some of the highlights of the column include:

“….if Vitale makes it into my Hall of Fame, I’ll disown the damn thing. You can have it if Vitale, who didn’t achieve greatness but who had greatness thrust upon him like a pie thrust upon a clown’s face, gets in.”

“ I’d call him a sycophant, but the dictionary defines sycophant as ‘a servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.’ Vitale isn’t trying to flatter coaches; he’s titillating them through the television set. It’s gross.”

“He has become college basketball’s most recognized voice. But try something for me, please: Next time you’re driving a car, roll down your window. What’s the most recognizable voice on the road? The car missing the muffler — That’s Vitale. He’s loud. He’s persistent. He talks so much, he can’t stop.”

I take some degree of delight in how disgusted Doyel is by the thought of Vitale being enshrined in Springfield. Because, I kind of agree.

I don’t think Vitale has a case for enshrinement. He was sub-par as a coach and I think his on-air personality is polarizing at best. In the column, Doyel claims to have muted the volume whenever Vitale is calling a game. I’ve done the exact same thing and I think all of us have at one point or another (especially if Duke’s involved.)

Vitale’s as subtle as a RPG and I think his impact on college basketball is negligible. Consider this for a second: March Madness is one of the biggest sporting events in all of sport (second maybe only to the Super Bowl) and Vitale has no involvement. Does that mean people don’t care or don’t watch it? Hardly.

College basketball sells itself and it didn’t, and still doesn’t, need Vitale to help foster its growth.

Keep Dickie V out of Springfield.