American League Predictions

AL EAST

1. Tampa Bay Rays

2. Boston Red Sox (Wildcard)

3. New York Yankees

4. Baltimore Orioles

5. Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

1. Minnesota Twins

2. Kansas City Royals

3. Cleveland Indians

4. Chicago White Sox

5. Detroit Tigers

AL West

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

2. Texas Rangers

3. Oakland A's

4. Seattle Mariners

PLAYOFFS

First Round- Tampa Bay defeats Cleveland, Boston defeats Los Angeles

Second Round- Boston defeats Tampa Bay

They're In It To Win It

Back on December 3rd, the North Carolina Tar Heels hammered the Michigan State Spartans 98-63. That game took place at Ford Field in Detroit, the same location of the National Championship game tomorrow, which just so happens to feature Michigan State against North Carolina.

If critics of the Spartans want to point to that 35 point loss as a reason why Michigan State will not win the National Championship, they better think again. These Spartans are an entirely different team. In their December battle with the Tar Heels, Michigan State center Goran Suton did not play. Point guard Kalin Lucas struggled, scoring only 6 points to go with 5 assists in the game. In fact, the Spartans only had two players score in double-figures, Raymar Morgan and Chris Allen.

Now, the Spartans are rolling on all cylinders. They have Suton back, who has averaged 9.9 points and 8.1 rebounds this season. They have the Big Ten Player of the Year in Kalin Lucas, who scored 21 points with 5 assists in Michigan State's Final Four victory over UConn yesterday. The Spartans have also gotten much more consistency from a slew of players, like Morgan (10.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Allen (8.5 ppg), guard Durrell Summers (8.5 ppg), forward Delvin Roe (5.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Travis Walton (5.2 ppg, 3.2 apg), and forward Marquise Gray (3.2 ppg). They are a much deeper, and more consistent team than they were in December, and a dangerous threat to a team that most people have already appointed the National Champions in North Carolina.

If that is not enough, Michigan State has the intangibles to pull off the upset. Tom Izzo, the coach of the Spartans, has led Michigan State to the most Final Four appearances this decade. Izzo is tournament-tested and is as tough and cool as any coach in the nation. He will have Michigan State ready for revenge Monday night.

Also, Ford Field is a mere 92 miles away from East Lansing, Michigan State's campus location. If the crowd noise in the Michigan State-UConn game is any indication of how loud it will be on Monday, North Carolina will be facing another very tough obstacle. While most people expect Michigan State to just roll over for North Carolina like they did in December, the Spartans should make this a very entertaining National Championship game at the very least, and they may have just enough momentum, consistency, and toughness to pull the upset.

Bluegrass Is Pretty Green

So for John Calipari, bluegrass is apparently greener than the fields of Memphis , Tennessee . On the outside looking in, the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program is a gem. Kentucky has won the most basketball games of any program in the entire country and their seven National Championships are second only to UCLA. The Wildcats record of 1988-631-1 also gives them the highest winning percentage in the history of college basketball. They have two stars currently on their roster in guard Jodie Meeks (23.7 ppg) and forward Patrick Patterson (17.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg). However, when looking past that, one can see a program that is currently in shambles.

Kentucky had no one else average in double figures besides Meeks and Patterson. The past four seasons, the Wildcats have gone a combined 84-52, reaching the NCAA Tournament in three of those years, but as no higher than a #8 seed. Not even fired coach Billy Gillespie could help Kentucky . Gillespie took just one season to turn the 6-24 UTEP Miners into a 24-8 NCAA Tournament team. Gillespie did the same thing in his three years at Texas A&M, reaching the NCAA Tournament in his final two years with the Aggies, giving the school its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years. However, at Kentucky , players refused to buy into Gillespie’s style of play, and because of that, the Wildcats did not play up to their full potential.

Why is John Calipari leaving a great situation at Memphis for the dysfunctional Kentucky Wildcats? Calipari reached the National Championship game last year, and his Memphis Tigers have not lost a Conference USA game for the past three years. Calipari has also recruited three ESPN Top 100 recruits to play at Memphis next season. In comparison, Kentucky has just one lined up. Calipari is leaving stability and success, and taking the huge risk of coaching in the pressure cooker known as Kentucky basketball. Sure, he has the coaching ability to revitalize the Kentucky program and return it to its glory days. However, it will not be easy and Calipari may soon yearn for everything he had at Memphis .