Ryan Carter: 2012

Friday, February 17, 2012

Headlinin?: ?Deep South?s Oldest Rivalry? could be the next casualty of SEC expansion

Making the morning rounds.

? They said it couldn't happen here. The Georgia-Auburn series has survived the turning of two centuries and two world wars. But it may not survive conference expansion, according to UGA athletic director Greg McGarity, who said Wednesday that the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC lineup ? thereby reducing the number of cross-divisional games per year from three to two ? may end the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" as an annual institution. The tradition could be preserved if the SEC decided to follow the other major conferences' lead by adopting a nine-game conference schedule, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, and anyway, a nine-game SEC slate could threaten traditional non-conference rivalries like Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech and South Carolina-Clemson. Because you don't honestly expect them to drop those dates with The Citadel and UT-Chattanooga, do you?

"I think if you ask Alabama and Tennessee, like us and Auburn, we'd like to retain the games," McGarity told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But does that work? What do the other 10 schools think? Those four schools like having those games but there's no other East-West match-up that has that piece of history to it. So I don't where that fits in. ? With 14 teams, not everybody will be happy." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

? We can sleep tonight knowing you're on that wall, Nate. Speaking of traditional non-conference rivalries: A proposal in the South Carolina legislature that would have mandated the annual Clemson-South Carolina game by state law was unanimously shot down Wednesday by a House subcommittee, which voted 7-0 in opposition. The Tigers and Gamecocks have played every year since 1909, the second-oldest continuous streak in the FBS (behind only Minnesota and Wisconsin, which have played every year since 1890), and both universities insist there is no realistic threat to the series.

"I still think there's the possibility in the future that the game could be in jeopardy," said Rep. Nathan Ballentine, who introduced the measure. "If that happens, I stand ready to help if the situation changes." [The State]

? But who gets the dog? Multiple outlets Wednesday reported that the ongoing legal struggle over West Virginia's defection from the Big East to the Big 12 may be close to being resolved, most likely at great expense to the Mountaineers. According to CBS Sports, West Virginia is on the verge of settling with the Big East for $20 million, allowing WVU to join the Big 12 immediately with no strings attached; the local Charleston Gazette puts that number at $11 million on WVU's end, with the Big 12 likely pitching in to make up the difference.

At this point, the only remaining hurdle may be whether one of the five new members set to join the Big East next year can be convinced to make the move a year early to replace West Virginia on conference schedules. If not, the rest of the league may be forced to get creative. [CBS Sports, Charleston Gazette, Newark Star-Ledger]

? I'm still here. LSU's offensive line got a major boost Wednesday with word that starting guard Josh Dworaczyk has been granted a sixth year of eligibility after missing the entire 2011 campaign with a preseason knee injury. Prior to that, Dworaczyk started 26 consecutive games in 2009 and 2010, experience he put to use last year as a sort of volunteer assistant coach during games. [Baton Rouge Advocate]

? No word on how he simulated the "Jump Around." How did Russell Wilson pick up Wisconsin's offense so fast last summer? A lot of study and a little bit of trespassing: In an interview with his new agency, Wilson ? a late transfer from N.C. State with only one season of eligibility to make good at Wisconsin ? said he would occasionally sneak into Camp-Randall Stadium at night to get a feel of the venue and the offense before the start of preseason practice.

"I got there July 1 and my goal was to learn the playbook by July 21," Wilson said. "That way when I stepped into the huddle for the first time, they realized that I was a leader and ready to take over. It was hectic. I was in the film room by myself a lot. I also have a huge whiteboard at home where I can draw out all of the routes.�I'd sneak into Camp Randall all by myself with no lights on and just go through my progressions on the 50-yard line." [IMG Academies, via Wisconsin State Journal]

Quickly? Joe Paterno's memorial services cost Penn State $29,000. ? Ohio State proposes installing an "integrity czar" to oversee NCAA compliance, among other things. ? Miami suspends running back Darion Hall for (all together now) an unspecified violation of team rules. ? USC receivers lobby for ex-Trojan Keary Colbert as their new position coach. ? Someone stole Junior Hemingway's postseason swag. ? Danny O'Brien mulls his future at Maryland. ? Michigan's uniforms will begin shifting back to actual Maize. ? And who would have guessed two years ago that Ndamukong Suh would ever wind up on a list like this?

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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/headlinin-deep-south-oldest-rivalry-could-first-casualty-131158160.html

Tyler Hostetter Carl Hudson Matt Hunwick Kent Huskins

New Mexico finally secures quality win, likely locks Mountain West in as three-bid league

On the surface,�entering Wednesday night's crucial clash with 13th-ranked San Diego State, New Mexico looked like a strong candidate for an at-large NCAA tournament bid.

By coming away with a much-needed 77-67 win on the road against No. 13 San Diego State, the Lobos locked the Mountain West in as a three-bid league (? and with Colorado State losing at Boise State two hours after Wyoming fell at home to Air Force on Wednesday, the MWC will likely be just that ? a three-bid league.)

More important for the time being, though, is that the Lobos, the preseason pick to win the league, is all alone atop the MWC standings until at least Saturday.

The Lobos currently stand at 21-4 overall and 7-2 in the Mountain West. Behind them by a game now are SDSU and 11th-ranked UNLV, each at 6-3.

The Rebels travel to Albuquerque for a Saturday morning showdown. If New Mexico successfully avenges an 80-63 loss in Las Vegas from back on Jan. 21, it will hold a commanding two-game edge on UNLV. A loss would likely mean the league's top three teams are again locked into a first-place tie.

But no matter where it finishes in the Mountain West race, New Mexico can take solace in the fact that it is finally playing like the team everyone it expected it to be.

Given their underwhelming non-conference schedule, the Lobos had little margin for error before league play. Instead, they dropped a home game to New Mexico State and a neutral site contest to Santa Clara. Combined with a home loss to San Diego State and the lopsided defeat in Vegas, New Mexico headed to Viejas Arena on Wednesday with a shiny 20-4 record without much substance behind it in terms of quality wins.

That is no longer an issue.

To go with an RPI of 32 and the inside track to a regular season league title is a signature win over the Aztecs.

Preseason MWC Player of the Year Drew Gordon posted 17 points and 17 rebounds, while preseason all-Mountain West selection Kendall Williams scored a game-high 21 points off of 5-of-6 3-point shooting.

Hitting five of six treys won't happen every night, but Williams has surged during the Lobos' current six-game winning streak, and keeping his confident, productive play going the rest of the way might determine just how far New Mexico's ride goes.

During the Lobos' current streak, he's shooting 64.6 percent from the floor, 52.9 percent from long range and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.6.

For the better part of the season, Williams, who finished his freshman year on a tear, struggled to fill the shoes of departed senior point guard Dairese Gary, who for four years was an extension of coach Steve Alford on the floor and one of college basketball's elite leaders.

He's playing as confident as he has at any point in his brief college career, and by coming through with a monster performance on Wednesday, he likely secured himself to do so for the first time in the NCAA tournament next month.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for RunRebs.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanmgreene.

More from Yahoo! Sports: St. Joe's coach pulls prank

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/mexico-finally-secures-quality-win-likely-locks-mountain-082503013.html

Matt Irwin Barret Jackman Scott Jackson Dan Jancevski

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Carlos Condit responds to Nick Diaz?s positive drug test

Nick Diaz's positive drug test sent both the UFC and Carlos Condit's plans flying. While they were planning a rematch of the two's razor-close UFC 143 decision, Diaz's positive test was announced and the fight was forgotten.

Condit told Sports Illustrated he was looking forward to the rematch both because he thinks he would win and because he wants to win fights. It doesn't bother him that Diaz had marijuana in his system as much as it does that he would put their bout in danger.

"I don't care," Condit said. "The thing about it is, it's something they test for. It's against the Nevada Athletic Commission [rules]. I don't really consider it to be a performance-enhancing drug, but the fact is, they're testing for it. And you know they're testing for it. Whatever you do in between camps, if you know they're testing for this stuff then you've got to figure something out. In the past, he's said, 'Oh, I can smoke and I can pass these tests no problem.' That attitude kind of came back and bit him in the ass."

No matter what your feelings are on marijuana, its legality or its place in society, Diaz was well aware that state commissions test for it. He was already busted for it once. Once you get a ticket for speeding down a street, do you speed down that street again?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/carlos-condit-responds-nick-diaz-positive-drug-test-185330858.html

Luca Sbisa Marco Scandella

Video: Wrap up the AT&T National Pro-Am right here

By now, you know that Phil Mickelson beat not just Tiger Woods, but the rest of the field, the course at Pebble Beach, and probably a spectator or two en route to dominating at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. It was a masterful performance, certainly one of Phil's best. Catch the full details of one of the best final rounds of Mickelson's career in the video above. Enjoy, Phanatics.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/video-wrap-t-national-pro-am-131935768.html

Francis Bouillon Marc-Andre Bourdon Jay Bouwmeester Johnny Boychuk

Meet the New Boss: Grading the Climbers

A weeklong grade book for the offseason coaching hires. Previusly: Grading the Up-and-Comers. Today: Small-school head coaches moving into their first big-time jobs.

KEVIN SUMLIN ? Texas A&M
Age: 49 Alma Mater: Purdue.
Replacing: Mike Sherman, whose trajectory at A&M was the model for former NFL head coaches slumming it in their first college gig: Four years, zero conference championships, ending with a minor breakthrough (9-4 in 2010) immediately followed by a disappointing return to mediocrity. His final season began with the Aggies basking in a pending defection to the SEC and their highest expectations in a decade, and ended with Sherman being led to the guillotine on the heels of a 6-6 campaign defined by a string of blown opportunities, drawing the curtain on a near-perfect ode to mediocrity encompassing 25 wins and 25 losses over his entire tenure.

Previously On: If Sumlin knows anything, it's throwing the ball all over the field, all day long. He was wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Purdue, when Drew Brees ruled the skies there from 1998-2000. He was an offensive assistant at Oklahoma for Jason White's Heisman run in 2003, the Sooners' return to the BCS title game in 2004 and the beginning of Sam Bradford's emergence as a sharpshooting robot in 2007. For the last four years, he's overseen the a record-breaking barrage from the right arm of Case Keenum, who set Division I marks for total yards, passing yards, completions and touchdowns.

Best Resum� Line: Sumlin leaves Houston with the best winning percentage of any coach in school history (.672) and a single-season record for wins (12) under his belt. With Keenum at the controls, the Cougars led the nation in total and scoring offense last season for the second time in three years, after finishing second in total offense in Sumlin's first season, 2008. With Keenum sidelined for nearly all of 2010, the Cougars still averaged 38 points on 480 yards per game.
Biggest Drawback: Houston's version of the "Air Raid" struggled in its rare encounters with competent defenses, which brings us to the bigger questions about its transition to Texas A&M: a) How will Sumlin's offense fare without the most prolific quarterback in college football pulling the trigger? And b) How will it fare against the defenses in the Aggies' new conference, which has resisted the rise of up-tempo, spread passing attacks for more than a decade? No one has successfully imported a pass-first system in the SEC since Air Raid guru Hal Mumme was run out of Kentucky ten years ago.

Grade: B+. Texas A&M has already embraced the fast-break philosophy that overtook the Big 12 over the last decade, and Sumlin's arrival makes it official: When the Aggies touch down in the SEC this fall, they're coming out of the chute firing. There's just nothing to indicate how successful they're going to be.

LARRY FEDORA ? North Carolina
Age: 49 Alma Mater: Austin College.
Replacing: Everett Withers, who was cast aside after serving the 2011 season as an interim placeholder for the abruptly ousted Butch Davis. As a result, UNC has effectively sacrificed two seasons to an ongoing NCAA investigation ? 2010 was marked by a wave of suspensions that decimated the starting lineup ?�before formal sanctions have even been handed down.

Previously On: Fedora first made his name as an offensive coordinator at Florida under Ron Zook, and later at Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy, where he installed the balanced, high-octane spread offense that's made the Cowboys one of the most reliably prolific attacks in the country over the last five years. Four years in the top job at Southern Miss yielded four winning seasons, four bowl games and a Conference USA championship.

Best Resum� Line: Fedora's final season in Hattiesburg ranks among the best in USM history, ending with a conference title, a top-20 finish in the final polls and a school record for wins (12). The Golden Eagles' upset over No. 7 Houston in the C-USA Championship Game gave them their highest-ranked victim since a Brett Favre-led win over No. 6 Florida State in 1989.
Biggest Drawback: Winning records aside, Fedora's first three campaigns at Southern Miss were somewhat less inspiring, especially for a program that has traditionally prided itself on defense: The Eagles allowed at least 24 points per game all three years, and lost eight games in that span in which they scored at least twenty-eight.

Grade: B. Whatever else there is to say about Fedora, the man knows a window when he sees it: Southern Miss fans ? no strangers to 7-5 records and bottom-rung bowl games ? were beginning to get impatient with Fedora before last year's breakthrough, and generally don't view it as a sustainable leap for the program as a whole. On the same note, his best friend in Chapel Hill is time: The Tar Heels will likely be down a handful of scholarships and maybe a bowl game or two in Fedora's first two seasons, a readymade answer if things get off to a rocky start.

HUGH FREEZE ? Ole Miss
Age: 42, though technically he can live forever inside his cryogenic suit. Alma Mater: Southern Miss.
Replacing: Houston Nutt, whose last season in Oxford played out as an extended funeral dirge. Ole Miss finished dead last in the conference in every major defensive category, next to last in every major offensive category, and managed a grand total of 13 points in its last three games after the axe fell on Nutt in early November. The Rebels were so pitiful at the end that LSU literally had to start kneeling out the clock with more than five minutes left to prevent running up the score even further in the most lopsided massacre in the 100-year history of the series.

Previously On: Freeze is still best known as Michael Oher's head coach at Memphis' Briarcrest Christian School from 2003-05, as depicted in the bestselling book/hit movie "The Blind Side," in which Freeze's character ("Coach Burt Cotton") is frequently upstaged in his duties by Sandra Bullock. In reality, Freeze won two state championships at Briarcrest and was Region 8-AA Coach of the Year five times. He joined Orgeron's staff at Ole Miss almost immediately after Oher signed with the Rebels in 2005 ? prompting an NCAA investigation in the process ? a leap that put him on the ladder: After the Orgeron regime was swept out in 2007, Freeze landed in Jackson, Tenn., as head coach at NAIA Lambuth, where he spent two successful seasons before moving on to Arkansas State as offensive coordinator in 2010. He was promoted to head coach a year later.

Best Resum� Line: Freeze's 10-2 debut at ASU may stand as the best season in school history: Following early losses at Illinois and Virginia Tech, the Red Wolves ripped off a nine-game winning streak, ran the table in Sun Belt play and became the first SBC team to crack 10 wins in a season since the league formed in 2001. This by the lowest-paid head coach in the country, at a program that had produced exactly one winning season (6-5 in 1995) since moving up to the I-A level 19 years ago.
Biggest Drawback: Freeze comes in hot on the heels of a Sun Belt championship in his only season as a Division I head coach. The other head coaches in the SEC West? Nick Saban, Les Miles, Bobby Petrino, Gene Chizik and Dan Mullen have combined for five national championships, a dozen BCS bowl games, three seasons as head coaches in the NFL�and ever-escalating salaries in the tens of millions. But hey, everybody's gotta start somewhere.

Grade: B?. Relative inexperience notwithstanding, Freeze is a Mississippi native who's spent his entire career within a few hours of Oxford. He knows the region, and he knows how to sell it. He'll certainly be considered more likable and trustworthy than his predecessor. Most importantly, he'll have the benefit of patience that comes with low expectations.

TIM BECKMAN ? Illinois
Age: 47 Alma Mater: University of Findlay (Ohio).
Replacing: The perennially embattled Ron Zook, who finally caught the axe after barely surviving calls for his head in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In seven years, Zook's teams were 18-38 in Big Ten games, finished either in last place or within a game of last place three times and produced one (1) winning record in conference play, in 2007, a short-lived "breakthrough" he was able to ride for four more years.

Previously On: Beckman's resum� is a case study in climbing the ladder: Six years as an assistant at Western Carolina ? Two years as a coordinator at Elon ? Seven years as a coordinator at Bowling Green (two of them under first-time head coach Urban Meyer) ? Two years as a position coach on Jim Tressel's staff at Ohio State ? Two years as a coordinator at Oklahoma State ? Three years as a head coach in the MAC ? Head coaching gig in the Big Ten. That's about as by-the-book as it gets, man.

Best Resum� Line: Beckman has previous Big Ten experience, and his first head coaching gig yielded a winning record over three seasons, including a 15-6 mark in MAC games (14-2 in 2010-11). Last year, Toledo led the league in scoring and total offense, finishing among the top 10 nationally at 42 points on 481 yards per game.
Biggest Drawback: For a defensive coach, Beckman's teams haven't been very defensive: None of his defenses at Toledo or Oklahoma State finished in the top 50 nationally in yards or points allowed, or in the top half of their own conference.

Grade: C+. There's nothing bad to say about Beckman, necessarily, and no reason to think he's going to go anywhere if he succeeds. But there's certainly nothing on his resum� to inspire Illini fans that their traditionally middling program is going to break the historical mold, either. By all accounts, first-year athletic director Mike Thomas only turned to Beckman after being turned down by at least two of his top targets, Kevin Sumlin and Cincinnati's Butch Jones, and possibly Larry Fedora, as well. By contrast, Beckman is tapioca pudding.

TODD GRAHAM ? Arizona State
Age: 47 Alma Mater: East Central (Okla.) University.
Replacing: Dennis Erickson, whose distinguished career ended with a five-game slide into oblivion. Coming into 2011, the Devils returned virtually the entire starting lineup from 2010 and were tabbed as the chic pick to win the Pac-12 South ?�a path they seemed to be on during a 6-2 start, before embarking on their annual descent in November. With their latest collapse, the Devils have endured at least one four-game skid in three of the last four seasons, and failed to produce a winning record in any of them.

Previously On: Graham spent the first decade-plus of his career bouncing around high schools in Oklahoma and Texas, and the last decade taking his act from one "dream" job to the next. In six years as a D-I head coach at Rice, Tulsa and Pittsburgh, he's 49-29 with just one losing season.

Best Resum� Line: At Tulsa, Graham's teams won 10 games, took at least a share of the Conference USA West title and went to a bowl game in three of his four years as head coach, easily the best four-year run at Tulsa in 60 years, if not ever. In his last season there, 2010, the Hurricane bounced back from a losing campaign in 2009 with a return to the top 10 nationally in both total and scoring offense, an upset win at Notre Dame and a seven-game winning streak to close the year, capped by a 62-35 rout over heavily favored Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl.
Biggest Drawback: Graham has never won big ? zero conference championships on the college level as a head coach or an assistant ? but if he somehow does at ASU, don't expect him to hang around long enough to build on the success. The controversial move from Pittsburgh to Arizona State was Graham's fourth in six years since accepting the top job at Rice in 2006, and left the Panthers scrambling for their fourth head coach in a little over one year since they ditched Dave Wannstedt in December 2010. The abrupt defection cost his new employer $1 million and made Graham look like a sleazeball, but neither of those facts stopped him.

Grade: C?. In a little more than two weeks in December, Arizona State a) Blew its shot at its first choice to replace Dennis Erickson, b) Awkwardly pulled the plug on another candidate at the last second and c) Settled for an opportunistic journeyman who just turned a mediocre 7-5 team into a mediocre 6-6 team in his most lucrative, high-profile position to date. I hope all you human resources managers were taking notes.

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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/meet-boss-grading-climbers-171109976.html

Dainius Zubrus Jonas Ahnelov Andrew Alberts Yury Alexandrov

Rory McIlroy once pretended to be a photographer to stalk Tiger Woods

There was a day not so long ago when Tiger Woods was the absolute pinnacle of the golf world. (It's true, we looked it up.) Galleries would throng to watch his every move. Men would want to play like him, women would want to ... well, let's not pursue that line any further.

Anyway, this obsession with Tiger wasn't just confined to civilians outside the ropes. No, even his competitors wanted to see the man up close ... and some went on to challenge Woods on every level.

Rory McIlroy, reigning U.S. Open champion and unquestionably one of the finest talents now playing, is preparing for the Dubai Desert Classic this week. And he noted that the first time he was at the event, way back in the misty pasts of 2006, he took a rather unconventional approach to checking out the then-world No. 1:

"I remember I played on Thursday morning, and then on Thursday afternoon Tiger was playing. I came out in the afternoon and took one of the photographer's cameras off of him and was able to follow inside the ropes, which was pretty cool."

Unfortunately, apparently no photographs exist that captured a wide-eyed young McIlroy in the background watching Woods bomb his way around the course. (Spoiler: Woods beat Ernie Els in a playoff. McIlroy missed the cut by a stroke.) Still, there's no better way to get close to Woods than taking his picture ... though you do have to be careful.

McIlroy, of course, has gotten much, much better, and isn't quite so intimidated and awed by Woods any longer. And when he tees off this week, he might just have a future major winner or two eyeing him from inside the ropes, too.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

-Golf season is upon us! Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee and on Facebook here.-

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/rory-mcilroy-once-pretended-photographer-stalk-tiger-woods-162739662.html

Corey Potter Chris Pronger Nate Prosser Dalton Prout

Pressing Questions: The Milwaukee Brewers

Is the beer mug half full or half empty as we appraise the 2012 Milwaukee Brewers? There's a case to be made on both sides. Belly up to the bar and let's try to sort it out.

On one hand, the Brew Crew is coming off its first divisional title and playoff series victory since the Molitor and Yount days of 1982, and there's a superb starting pitching staff ready to go. But the offense has question marks all over the place, with Prince Fielder leaving town and Ryan Braun stuck in PED suspension limbo.

For my draft dime, I'm still expecting Milwaukee to contend. The World Champion Cardinals also lost their share of talent in the winter (Albert Pujols and Tony La Russa are gone, among others) and no one else in the NL Central had a winning record in 2011. The Cubs are rebuilding, the Pirates had the worst record in the second half of the year, and the Astros remain a punching bag: this is still the weakest division, on paper, in the majors (by process of elimination, maybe it's a good time to buy stock in the Reds). Assuming Milwaukee's Big Three of Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum can stay healthy, the Brewers should be playing meaningful baseball in September.

So smiles, everyone, smiles. No one likes an unhappy tailgater. All is not lost in Suds City.

What the heck do we do with Braun at the draft table?

While there isn't a specific date set for MLB to rule Braun's suspension appeal, the Brewers expect to know Braun's status before the start of training camp. That's a sigh of relief to fantasy owners, who need to know the score before making critical decisions in the war room.

For the time being, I think we need to operate on the assumption that Braun won't get his suspension overturned; we haven't seen anyone get a 50-game ban flipped since the league adopted its PED rules. The Brewers don't play their 51st game until the final day of May at Los Angeles. A nine-game homestand awaits after that, starting with the Pirates on June 1.

Your stance on Braun depends significantly on your format. If you're in a head-to-head league with a sizable bench, there's a strong case to pursue him aggressively. In roto-scoring formats with short bench space, he's obviously less appealing. Locking up a roster spot is something I always try to avoid in short-resource leagues; you want to be proactive on the waiver wire, especially early. Roster flexibility is a currency, too.

Rotowire's Chris Liss selected Braun in the fourth round of the recently-completed FSTA Expert Draft, moving on Braun with the 47th overall pick (4.08). It's a patented Liss move; he's known for his aggressive, no-fear strategy at the table, and it's served him well through the years (just ask him). I'd probably wait a round or two before going in that direction, being a little more risk-averse with my big chips. There's no right or wrong answer here; there's more than one way to build your championship.

Here are some of the outfielders that fell after Braun in that particular draft: Nelson Cruz, Hunter Pence, BJ Upton, Shane Victorino, Alex Gordon. At the end of the day it's a matter of style and context: how soon do you want to focus on upside over floor with your early picks? I've been a monumental Braun supporter for his entire career (he was my No. 1 outfielder last year, not a consensus ranking), but this is one season I'm prepared to let him go unless the price is downright silly.

There's another catch with Braun, of course: the hitters around him. Fielder provided lineup support and protection and that sort of presence is not easy to replace. A spike in Braun's walk rate (and intentional walk rate) is very likely when he returns.

How is Miller Park playing these days?

The long ball is alive and well in Milwaukee; taters have received a 12-percent float over the last three seasons, with a push from both sides of the plate. But otherwise, this hasn't played as an extreme park - there's no reason to fear your streamers in this spot. Batting average and runs scored are a shade below average over the last three years, and obviously the Milwaukee lineup seems less formidable as the season approaches.

Gallardo has enjoyed the home cooking during his career, picking up 30 of his 53 wins at home and posting better ratios there (3.22 ERA and 1.19 WHIP against 4.06 and 1.39). Greinke also had a significant home bias in 2011 (3.13/1.13 versus 4.70/1.29), but it played the other way for Marcum (4.81/1.33 flipped against 2.21/0.97). At the end of the day, I'm not going to take too much from any of those pitcher splits; the strongest batch of data comes in the collective stats from the park, which suggests that it's pretty close to neutral when it comes to run scoring.

Why is Francisco Rodriguez still here? Does he cut into John Axford's closer cred?

The Brewers misplayed their hand with K-Rod and as a result he's still in Milwaukee. The club was hoping Rodriguez would decline arbitration and head to the free agent market, looking for a new team to close for, but Rodriguez instead took the arbitration option and stayed with the club. The two sides agreed on a one-year, $8 million contract before the hearing came up, big money for a non-stopper. Alas, Rodriguez isn't going to be the big dog in this bullpen.

K-Rod was a dominant set-up guy for Ron Roenicke down the stretch, scoring four wins in 31 appearances along with a tidy 1.86 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He struck out 33 men in 29 innings and allowed just one homer. But Rodriguez didn't record a single handshake after the trade; the Brew Crew stuck with Axford as the ninth-inning man all year. The Canadian Closer had two notable struggles to bookend his season (a blown save on opening day in Cincinnati and a Game 5 meltdown in the NLDS against Arizona) but he was 46-for-47 in all other save assignments. He's a Tier 1 stopper, and a lot will have to go wrong before he loses this gig. Likable guy, bat-missing stuff, killer facial hair. Invest with confidence.

Is Mat Gamel final ready to make a contribution?

Get out the post-hype sleeper page, it's time to make another entry. Gamel has been a significant disappointment for three years now, but he's still just 26 and he's finally entering a season with a job to call his own - he's getting the first crack at replacing Fielder at first base.

First and foremost, let's establish that Gamel was a hot property not that long ago. He was Baseball America's No. 34 prospect entering 2009. And he's shown plenty of offensive potential in Triple-A over the last two seasons, especially during last year's 128-game trial: .310/.372/.540 slash line, 28 homers, improving contact rate. He still needs to brush up his work against southpaws, but that's not a major concern; we still live in a right-handed world, after all.

Gamel's defense has been under fire for most of his pro career, but now he's getting a shot at first base, a fairly routine assignment. He's only logged 171 at-bats in the majors, but it's time for the Brewers to see what they have here. There's no significant challenger to the position, not unless you count journeyman Travis Ishikawa (brought in on a minor-league deal) and farmhand Taylor Green. Gamel will have to make a mess of things before he loses this opportunity.

Anyone playing in an NL-only pool needs to take a long look at Gamel, because your corner pool has been depleted significantly. Obviously Pujols and Fielder are gone to the hitter's league, and Adrian Gonzalez made the move last year. Ryan Howard could be out for most of 2012. Joey Votto should probably make his All-Star reservations right now. Perhaps Gamel is ready to post a Freddie Freeman 2011 type of line, something in the .280-75-22-80 range. No one is suggesting you want to bid Gamel to the death, but don't scoff at that potential production, especially considering the post-juice era that we're playing in these days.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantasy-roto-arcade/pressing-questions-milwaukee-brewers-222808295.html

Sam Carrier Brett Carson Michael Caruso Zdeno Chara

Pressing Questions: The Kansas City Royals

Pictured above is the expected starting second baseman for the 2012 Royals ? Ok, that's not true. The 24-year-old Johnny Giavotella is the early favorite to start at 2B, but the picture does well in representing the Royals product this season. Kansas City plans on serving up a whole lotta youth, currently standing as the youngest team in MLB, with an average age of under 26 years old. With one of the top farm systems in the league and some promising young talents like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Aaron Crow having already arrived, a Royals fan should have every reason to don shades in anticipation of a bright future for the franchise. But the reality is that the Royals haven't finished as high as second place in the AL Central since '95, and their last division title was a decade before that, when they were still a member of the AL West. The immediate future looks like another in a long line of also-ran campaigns for the Royals, but that doesn't mean they are insignificant from a fantasy standpoint.

Let's take a look at what this youthful squad can do for you, the fantasy owner.

Alex Gordon is now one of the elders of the KC offense, and his post-hype breakout in '11 was one of the season's bigger surprises. Should we believe in it, or not?

In his age 27 season, Gordon finally produced results befitting of his pedigree ? a No. 2 overall pick in the '05 amateur draft and '06 Minor League Player of the Year. As FanGraph's Dave Golebiewski points out, Gordon's breakthrough can be attributed to improved contact rates, but also a fortuitous BABIP. And as Golebiewski illustrated in his column, the recent track record of improvement for those that produced a BABIP above .350 the previous year is not very good at all.

Gordon was a top 30 player in the Yahoo! game last season, but he's being drafted on average at No. 62 overall according to early draft reports from MockDraftCentral.com. That would indicate that owners aren't completely overreacting to Gordon's '11 emergence. And in Yahoo! leagues, he loses his 3B-eligibility, which further diminishes his value. Most projections have Gordon dropping about 20 points in batting average off his 2011 clip (.303). And his 58 percent success rate on stolen base attempts the past two years could mean fewer green lights on the base paths this season, so a small SB decline wouldn't be a surprise, either. Based on his 5x5 profile, I see Gordon as having similar value to outfielders Shane Victorino and Adam Jones, players going just outside the top 20 at the OF position, or about a round later than where Gordon is going on average. If you don't reach much higher than that, you should do just fine with Gordon in '12.

Hosmer is an anagram for Homers. Will Hosmer also be synonymous with Homers in '12 as well?

Hosmer hit 19 home runs in his 523-AB rookie campaign. That rate equates to a low 20s total with 600-plus ABs, which doesn't really cut it for a fantasy 1B spot. Hosmer makes great contact and should be a perennial .300 hitter in the majors, but he's ground-ball heavy. His 49.7 GB% in '11 was 22nd-highest among those with at least 500 plate appearances, and only one of the players that finished with a higher GB% than Hosmer reached the 20-HR plateau (Hunter Pence, 22). Because of his ability to hit for average and his spot in the middle of the lineup, Hosmer should be a solid run producer for fantasy purposes. And while he can't be considered a slam dunk to repeat a double-digit steals total, we at least know he can do it after swiping 11 bags last season. But his 52.9 ADP in early drafts, according to MockDraftCentral, suggests that his reputation is greater than his likely actual fantasy returns.

Simply put, Hosmer won't deliver the kind of power to warrant taking him in the neighborhood of the top 50 players overall. Washington's Michael Morse is going some 30 picks after Hosmer, which doesn't make a lot of sense given that Morse should deliver more home runs while providing a solid batting average, as well. New York Met Ike Davis is going 130 picks after Hosmer, which makes even less sense. Hosmer is still a star on the rise, but don't let his buzz cloud the obvious deficiency (power) in his fantasy value.

Is there anything to Crow about in the Royals rotation?
Of course, the Crow pun here has to do with Aaron Crow, who went to the All-Star game as a reliever in his rookie campaign last season, but is expected to move to the rotation this season. Thanks to a 95 mph fastball, Crow was able to dominate in relief last season. But his BB rate (4.5) was atrocious, and he threw a fastball or a slider more than 90 percent of the time. His limited repertoire and sketchy control makes his move to the rotation a bit perilous. More often than not, velocity and K rates decline when a reliever moves into a starting role. And given that he hasn't yet shown an ability to control the strike zone, Crow's fantasy value has rollercoaster ride written all over it. Since K.C. brought in reliever Jonathan Broxton, it no longer looks like Crow will immediately succeed Joakim Soria in the closer role. That being the case, it doesn't make sense to waste a draft pick on Crow.

The two Royals starters worth a fantasy owners' time of day are offseason acquisition Jonathan Sanchez and Luke Hochevar, both landing between 220-235 in early drafts. Sanchez offers the K upside that owners in Yahoo! default leagues cherish, consistently delivering around a 9.0 K/9 rate. But his BB/9 (5.86) was easily the worst in the league among those with at least 100 IP in '11. And, of course, he not only gets a downgrade in terms of home park (AT&T Park was the most pitcher-friendly venue in '11), he also moves to a more hitter-friendly league. As we've seen in the past, for Sanchez to have more than stream-worthy potential in fantasy leagues, he's going to have to be very lucky, like he was in '10 when he had a .252 BABIP. That's not something you should count on come draft day.

As for Hochevar, you have to love his ground-ball heavy results, but he's still not even close to delivering the kind of K rate needed to put him seriously in the standard mixed-league discussion. He's a player, because he was a No. 1 overall pick in the '06 amateur draft and passes the eye test, that many pundits like to get behind in the spring, but four straight seasons with an ERA of 4.68 or higher and a K/9 rate of 6.7 or less should be reason enough to look elsewhere on draft day.

Are there any Royals on the farm that could make a fantasy impact this year, or are all the intriguing prospects already with the parent club?

John Sickels ranks Kansas City as the sixth-most talented farm system for '12, but the cream of that crop (Will Myers, Bubba Starling, Cheslor Cuthbert) is not expected to arrive in '12. The best of the near MLB-ready talent are starters Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi and John Lamb, but none profile as a dominant strikeout pitcher (at least early in their MLB careers) and all have struggled recently in either Double- or Triple-A.

While no longer rookie-eligible, second base and No. 2 hitter candidate Giavotella, who had 178 ABs with the Royals last season, is a reasonable late-round flyer. He's a career .300 hitter in the minors with 10/20 upside. We saw last season from Melky Cabrera that the No. 2 spot in this order is capable of making an impact.

And then there's Mike Moustakas, who hit 36 home runs between Double- and Triple-A in '10, but swung at everything in sight in his 89-game Royals debut last season, managing a mere five home runs in the process. He obviously has a lot to learn in terms of working the count and waiting for pitches he can drive. But his current ADP sits outside the top 200 and, given the scarcity of bankable 3B this season, gambling late on Moustakas in hopes that he'll make the necessary adjustments this season isn't such a bad plan of attack. As it stands, he'll likely hit behind Hosmer and Billy Butler, two players that should deliver strong OBP marks, so "Moose" should at least have plenty of RBI opportunities.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantasy-roto-arcade/pressing-questions-kansas-city-royals-210024084.html

Dave Bolland Nick Bonino Darryl Boyce Dustin Boyd

Aw yeah, let?s go tractor-driftin?, y?all!

NASCAR season is upon us! Our long (well, really, pretty short) winter is over! Let's celebrate with some tractor drifting! This is from the Rally Sweden event over in, uh, Sweden, and I have to say it makes me want to add a snow rally track to the Chase. I bet Tony Stewart would still beat everyone, though.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/aw-yeah-let-tractor-driftin-y-140709782.html

Mark Cullen Matt Cullen Robert Czarnik Zac Dalpe

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Shotgun Start: Previewing the Northern Trust Open

It's tournament time! We continue the season at historic Riviera Country Club for the Northern Trust Open, the final stop on the PGA Tour's West Coast Swing.� Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: Ask any player on tour -- outside of Tiger Woods, of course -- to name their three favorite courses on the schedule each year and your bound to hear the name "Riviera Country Club" come out of their mouth. The George C. Thomas, Jr. design in Pacific Palisades is a classic course that not only forces you to use every shot in your bag but contend with the barranca and tall eucalyptus trees that come into play on almost every hole. At 7, 298 yards, the course has a little bit of everything, including the always-difficult kikuyugrass rough, and a par 3 (6th hole) that has a bunker in the center of the green. But don't let the quirks fool you: Riviera is one of the sternest tests around. It ranked as the 10th toughest tour stop (avg. +.0888 strokes over par) on the 2011 schedule, so you know the track will give players in this week's field all they can handle.

The schedule: The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 3�to 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday,� and 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday; and on CBS from�3�to 6 p.m. ET on Saturday and 3�to 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

The field: A number of high-profile names make their 2012 PGA Tour debut this week, including world number one Luke Donald and Aussies Adam Scott and Jason Day. Aside from boasting four of the OWGR's top 10 players -- Donald (1), Day (7), Scott (8) and Dustin Johnson (10) -- the Northern Trust Open also has Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Justin Rose, defending champion Aaron Baddeley, K.J. Choi, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els in the field this week. That's some star power, folks.

The video: Check out some of the memorable moments from the Northern Trust Open's history.

Your turn. Who are your picks for this week? Swing away!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/shotgun-start-previewing-northern-trust-open-152113386.html

Corey Elkins Lars Eller Cory Emmerton Andreas Engqvist

DTotD: Collision with his own keeper knocks out Olof Mellberg

Olympiakos goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri used defender Olof Mellberg to break his fall after clearing a free kick in the 32nd minute of Tuesday's Europa League win over Rubin Kazan. Mellberg appeared woozy and disoriented as Megyeri tried to shake it out of him after calling over the team doctor.

The former Aston Villa defender was able to walk off the pitch, but he went straight to a Moscow hospital, reportedly with "symptoms of a concussion and amnesia." Asking him if he remembers his time with Juventus wasn't exactly a fair question, though.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/dtotd-collision-own-keeper-knocks-olof-mellberg-182522625.html

Jakub Kindl Geoff Kinrade Sam Klassen Kevin Klein

Defending champ UConn in danger of missing NCAA tourney

Since the NCAA tournament expanded to a field of 64 in 1985, only four teams have ever failed to earn a bid the year after winning the national title.

UConn is now in danger of becoming the fifth.

Despite fielding a team more talented than the one that won five Big East tourney games in five days and stifled Butler in the national title game last spring, these Huskies hardly bear any resemblance to last year's. They lost for the fifth time in six games on Monday night, falling to 5-6 in Big East play with an 80-59 meltdown at Louisville.

UConn was just 9-9 in the Big East last season before beginning its improbable postseason run, but the Kemba Walker-led Huskies never delivered as lifeless a performance as this year's squad did in Monday's second half. They trailed Louisville by only five at halftime but got outscored 36-12 over the next 14 minutes, appearing to quit amid a hail of dunks and three-pointers from the Cardinals.

The lack of effort Monday calls into effort whether UConn can recover in time to make an NCAA tournament push.

Quality wins over Florida State, Harvard, Notre Dame ensure the Huskies would make the field of 68 if the season ended today, but a difficult upcoming schedule suggests it's no guarantee they do a month from now. UConn still has two games against Syracuse and home games against Marquette and surging Pittsburgh, meaning that even getting to 9-9 in the Big East will be challenging.�

Until Monday, UConn had at least been able to count on its defense to keep it competitive, but the Huskies' ragged offense remains a season-long issue. Never has a team so talented had more trouble reaching 50 points than UConn, which failed to do so in its previous two losses to Notre Dame and Georgetown and was on pace to fall short again Monday before Louisville pulled its starters.

[Forde Minutes: The best college hoops week of the season is here]

Of greatest concern for the Huskies is the indifference of talented center Andre Drummond (0 points, 0-for-6 shooting on Monday) and the backcourt's inability to sink a� jump shot. In its last four games, UConn is shooting an appalling 10-for-60 from three-point range, far too many attempts for a team with a frontline with the size and talent theirs possesses.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun missed his second straight game Monday while on indefinite medical leave due to lingering back pain.

Most likely he watched at home on TV. If he was smart, he flipped the channel to a more competitive game midway through the second half.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/defending-national-champs-danger-missing-ncaa-tourney-031717733.html

Patrick Wiercioch Cody Wild Nigel Williams Clay Wilson

Join us for the latest Yahoo! Sports NASCAR chat, Wednesday at noon ET (new time)

Time again for another NASCAR chat as the season draws ever closer! We're meeting up on Wednesday at noon Eastern (note: one hour earlier than usual) and we'll talk media tour news and other breaking info. Be here!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/join-us-latest-yahoo-sports-nascar-chat-wednesday-204631166.html

Andy McDonald David McIntyre

Herve Renard carries injured Joseph Musonda to Zambia?s African Cup of Nations celebration

In a scene reminiscent of U.S. women's gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi carrying Kerri Strug to collect her Olympic goal medal in 1996, Herve Renard, Zambia's 43-year-old French manager, carried injured defender Joseph Musonda to celebrate Zambia's historic first-ever African Cup of Nations title after beating the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout. Musonda, who came off in just the 11th minute with the injury, was set down with his teammates by Renard, who then walked away to let the players celebrate their success.

The emotional scene capped off a storybook run for Zambia, ranked 71st in the world, as�it played in tribute to the 30 people, including 18 members of the Zambian team, who died in a 1993 plane crash en route to a World Cup qualifying match. The star of that '93 team and lone surviving member (he was traveling from the Netherlands, where he played for PSV Eindhoven, and was not on the team plane),� Kalusha Bwalya, was at the center of the celebration following Zambia's 8-7 penalty shootout win to resolve a scoreless 120 minutes of play.

While Zambia becomes just the second southern Africa side to win the tournament (South Africa being the first), the Ivory Coast must now live with the heartbreak of yet another squandered title. Didier Drogba blasted a penalty over the bar in the 70th minute and Gervinho, who scored the goal to put his side in the final, missed a crucial penalty of his own in the shootout.

Here's Drogba's miss...

After all Drogba (and his mother) has done for the Ivory Coast, this is just a crushing moment for him. But that doesn't change the fact that his contributions remain far greater than winning a continental football tournament.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/herve-renard-carries-injured-joseph-musonda-celebrate-zambia-010828262.html

Paul Gaustad Nathan Gerbe Ryan Getzlaf David Gilbert

Bad news, Danica: Your Super Bowl ad is ranking dead last

Danica Patrick had better hope that the Super Bowl of motorsports goes a little better for her than the Super Bowl of, well, Super Bowls.

Patrick is the star of more Super Bowl commercials than any other human being in recorded history, at least according to sponsor Go Daddy, though we've got to figure the Budweiser Clydesdales outdo her if you're going across species. Anyway, Patrick's commercial for The Cloud, which you can view above, is currently ranked dead last in the USA Today/Facebook Ad Meter, 54th out of 54. And Patrick's other commercial, "Body Paint," is faring little better, ranking 51st. (The clubhouse leader is the Doritos slingshot-baby one, though I liked Doritos' murderous, body-hiding dog better.)

[ Buzziest Super Bowl ads | Video: Check out all of the ads ]

Anyway, what does this all mean? Not a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. After all, we're talking about her and Go Daddy, which is exactly what both parties want. And as M.I.A. showed with her middle finger at the halftime show, provocation can outstrip talent any day of the week.

Really, the only people who are the losers here are the people who think that ads should have a modicum of taste or wit behind them (is there anyone left who really believes that?) and the people who are tired of hearing about Danica Patrick. Sorry to say, friends, but she's here and she's not going away. For everyone's sake, let's hope she actually drives well enough to warrant all the coverage she'll be getting.

Less than three weeks to Daytona, folks. Not much longer now.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/bad-news-danica-super-bowl-ad-ranking-dead-135220708.html

Olivier Fortier Adrian Foster Alex Foster Colin Fraser

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Breakfast Buffet: Creighton hits its first skid

1. Creighton has been so consistent all season, so it was surprising to see the Bluejays drop their second straight game Tuesday night. They scored one point in the final 5:25 of the second half and lost 65-57 to Evansville, falling behind Wichita State in the Missouri Valley standings and making Saturday's matchup with the Shockers all the more important. "We're still in a position where we can control our own destiny," Creighton coach Greg McDermott told the Omaha World-Herald. "But that has to be the farthest thing from our minds right now. We have to get ourselves right."

2. JayVaughn Pinkston's heroics that led Villanova's rally from a 19-point second-half deficit at Providence on Tuesday night were overshadowed an injury suffered by the Wildcats best player. Junior guard Maalik Wayns injured his left knee with 11:49 to go in the second half and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine the extent of the damage.

3. Ira Schoffel's terrific profile of Leonard Hamilton examines how it shaped the Florida State coach growing up in a hardscrabble town known as "the Gas House" because of the number of people from there executed on death row. "Leonard pretty much started it," said Willie Hamilton, one of his three younger brothers. "He was the first one in the family to earn a degree. When we were coming up, your choices were to either get drafted or go work in the cotton mills. He didn't want that. He wanted something better."

4. It's no accident Kobe Bryant is the player Austin Rivers looks up to most because they approach the game in a similar way. The Duke freshman told the Raleigh News Observer that he has learned from watching Bryant how to take criticism, real or perceived, and use it as motivation to become a better player.� "He plays (ticked) off," Rivers said. "He finds things to motivate him, and he doesn't change."

5. Jim Calhoun will not be on the UConn bench Saturday when the Huskies face Syracuse, but he told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that lingering back pain will not end his coaching career. "It's something I've got to get through," Calhoun said. "I don't think it changes my mind one way or another about next year or the next two years. I just want to get the pain gone from down my leg so I can walk right. Getting onto planes and coaching -- I can't do that right now."

Markel Brown is quickly becoming a SportsCenter fixture. The high-flying guard delivered another memorable dunk in Oklahoma State's 69-67 victory over Iowa State, finishing a two-on-one fast break with an alley-oop slam. This time, however, he managed not to get ejected for trash talking afterward like he did after a vicious dunk of the year candidate against Missouri a couple weeks ago.

"Nah. No way. It's impossible." ? Kentucky's Doron Lamb on whether the Wildcats can be beaten when they shoot the ball as well as they did in Tuesday night's 78-58 demolition of Florida. Kentucky shot 52.8 percent from the floor and made 9 of 15 threes.� (Cats Illustrated)

? Kansas at Baylor, 7 p.m. EST

? Pittsburgh at South Florida, 7 p.m. EST

? Georgetown at Syracuse, 7 p.m. EST

? Northern Iowa at Wichita State, 8 p.m. EST

? Saint Louis at St. Joseph's 8:30 p.m. EST

? Notre Dame at West Virginia, 9 p.m. EST

? Duke at North Carolina, 9 p.m. EST

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/breakfast-buffet-creighton-hits-first-skid-140036487.html

Patrice Bergeron Patrik Berglund Blair Betts Mario Bliznak

From Bar�a to Zenit: how this week's Champions League teams shape up | Marcus Christenson

Can Apoel cause another shock against Lyon and will Bar�a recover from a rare domestic defeat to beat Leverkusen?

The Champions League resumes this week with four of the eight Last 16-ties taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. How have the teams fared during the competition's winter break, who have they signed and what's the injury situation? Find out here ?

Lyon v Apoel

Tuesday, 7.45pm

Odds (William Hill) Lyon 4-9. Draw 3-1. Apoel 11-4.

Prediction Lyon to win 3-1 on aggregate

Lyon are no longer the dominant force of a few years ago and needed a 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb to overhaul Ajax in the last Group D game to qualify for the last 16. Now they meet the tournament's surprise package, Cypriot side Apoel, who were winners of Group G and have an eclectic group of players. There are Cypriots, Greeks, Brazilians, Portuguese, Macedonians, Bosnians, Argentinians, Tunisians, Portuguese and Spanish players at coach Ivan Jovanovic's disposal.

They have a Kak� ? though he is sadly not of the same calibre as the Real Madrid player ? and they have an A�lton ? though thankfully not the overweight former Schalke player. The latter, who has just returned from a hernia problem, is the key up front for the Cypriots, having scored three goals already this Champions League campaign, and leads the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Apoel have, however, scored the fewest goals of all teams left in the competition and have had trouble creating chances domestically in 2012 as well. In addition, Jovanovic has problems in defence, with Marcelo Oliveira and Paulo Jorge struggling with injuries so the former Chelsea midfielder Nuno Morais has been playing at centre-back recently.

Not that Lyon have had an easy time either. R�mi Garde took over from the strict Claude Puel in the summer and was told he had no money to spend. The former Arsenal player has been forced to introduce several youngsters this season and, although they are still in four competitions, they lost at home to lowly Caen at the weekend. Players such as Alexandre Lacazette, Cl�ment Grenier, and Samuel Umtiti have emerged while Garde has run out of patience with the underperforming Yoann Gourcuff. The Croatia centre-back Dejan Lovren is still struggling with injury, but his defensive colleague Cris could return.

Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona

Tuesday, 7.45pm

Odds Leverkusen 7-1. Draw 3-1. Barcelona 4-9

Prediction Barcelona to win 4-1 on aggregate

"I have enjoyed preparing for this game. I have watched a lot of good football," joked the Bayer Leverkusen coach, Robin Dutt, at the press conference on Monday. He wasn't joking, however, when he said that he thinks Bar�a are a better team than Spain and that he believes his team will have 30 or 35% possession on Tuesday night. Injuries have not helped. Sidney Sam, Michael Ballack, Ren� Adler, Eren Derdiyok and Tranquillo Barnetta are all out, although Renato Augusto returned at the weekend and Michal Kadlec is back after missing the defeat against Borussia Dortmund through suspension.

Dutt could try a 4-2-3-1 formation with Augusto the central of the three attacking midfielders, the wonderfully talented Andr� Sch�rrle on the left and Castro on the right. Vedran Corluka, on loan from Spurs, could start in defence.

Barcelona had their 18-match unbeaten run ended on Saturday, losing 3-2 to Osasuna. However, it was only a second defeat in 47 games for Bar�a and Xavi, Andr�s Iniesta and Cesc F�bregas should return after being rested or on the bench at Osasuna. Sergio Busquets has returned to training following a knee injury and Gerard Piqu� should also be able to play after reportedly escaping unhurt from a car crash on Monday.

Zenit St Petersburg v Benfica

Wednesday, 5pm

Odds Zenit 8-5. Draw 21-10. Benfica 9-5

Prediction Benfica to win 3-2 on aggregate

A tricky tie for Zenit who have not played a competitive game since November because of the Russian winter break. They have been in training since 12 January, however, and spent a week and a half at the Italian national team base in Florence at the end of January and the beginning of February.

Their Italian coach, Luciano Spalletti, has had Domenico Criscito ruled out with food poisoning, the Portuguese international midfielder Danny sidelined with torn knee ligaments while Roman Shirokov (calf) and Aleksandr Bukharov (hamstring) both missed training the last week. Any good news? The defender Tomas Hubocan and the goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev have recovered from knocks.

Benfica will aim to become the first side to have beaten Zenit at Stadion Petrovskiy in 20 games and have added Yannick Djal�, the experienced Joan Capdevila and Andr� Almeida to their Champions League squad over the winter. Benfica, who eliminated Manchester United at the group stage, are unbeaten in the Portuguese league this season and have scored in all their 34 competitive games this season. The midfielder Javi Garc�a is the coach Jesus Jorge's only injury problem.

Milan v Arsenal

Wednesday, 7.45pm

Odds Milan 11-10. Draw 21-10. Arsenal 11-4

Prediction Arsenal to win 2-1 on aggregate

Arsenal will fancy their chances against a Milan side who are running out of steam amid all the injuries. Antonio Cassano, who had heart surgery in November, and Gennaro Gattuso, who has been diagnosed with a disorder associated with the nerve that controls eye movement, will not play again this season. Further injury worries include Mario Yepes, Alberto Aquilani (no surprise there), Kevin-Prince Boateng, Alexandre Pato, Alexander Merkel, Alessandro Nesta as well as the goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

Abbiati, Boateng, Nesta and Pato could still feature against the Gunners. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who often struggles in the knockout stages of the Champions League but who scored twice against Arsenal for Barcelona two seasons ago, is available despite serving a domestic ban for slapping a Napoli player. He is likely to play up front with the former Manchester City striker Robinho with Boateng, if fit, in a free role behind them.

Stephan El Shaarawy, the talented 19-year-old of Italian-Egyptian descent, is likely to be on the bench, as is Maxi L�pez, the striker they signed from Catania when the Carlos Tevez deal broke down. He scored one and set up one as Milan beat Udinese on Saturday. Thiago Silva has been superb in central defence and his contest with Robin van Persie should be fascinating.

Arsenal have no new injury worries apart from Per Mertesacker, who injured his ankle ligaments against Sunderland. Gervinho is not expected to play despite the Africa Cup of Nations finishing on Sunday. He should, however, be in the squad to face Sunderland in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Follow Marcus on Twitter for all the latest news ahead of Euro 2012.

Marcus Christenson

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/14/champions-league-arsenal-milan

Shawn Lalonde Philip Larsen Brian Lashoff Matt Lashoff

Randy Jones Michal Jordan Roman Josi Derek Joslin