A Fantastic BCS Game...

These two will likely not get the chance to hook up on the football field, but you can bet both will have something to say on the hardwood come March.

Cincinnati has looked fantastic in Maui, dropping Top-25 foes Vandy and Maryland by double digits on consecutive nights. Cincinnati has size inside with Yancy Gates, good senior floor leadership with Deonta Vaughn and an infusion of young talent, highlighted by freshman Lance Stevenson.

Stevenson still has a lot of maturing to do; if you need a good example check out the ridiculous flop he took right in front of the officials with about a minute to go. The ref was actually chuckling at him as he complained. Vlade Divac thought it was disgraceful. Manu Ginobli told him to man up... then he bit the head off a live bat. Still, Stevenson is a key piece to the Cats puzzle and possesses jaw-dropping natural offensive skills.

The Cats have the talent and the size and athleticism to compete in the upper tier of the BEast thos year, and I would be very surprised if they aren't dancing in March.

Further South the Florida Gators got a jump on the Thanksgiving beatdown of the Noles on the gridiron by laying an equally impressive one tonight on the hardwood. The Gators are very young, but appear to finally be on track after two disappointment seasons. The Maniac has been critical of Billy Donovan and honestly believes that without the two year title run he would be seen as a tremendously underachieving coach. Think Steve Lavin at UCLA. Flashy, always a good interview, slick, but just never quite getting it done. It is an unbelievably fair parallel.

These young Gators have a chance to get Billy back to March Madness, and a chance to compete in the ridiculously tough SEC East. Five of the six teams expect to dance in March, with only Georgia having less lofty aspirations (though I am sure they havent officially declared a non-interest...). Florida was widely considered the fifth of those five. After the first week of play, the Maniac would place them a solid #3, behind UK and Tennessee.

Can Billy bring the Magic back to G-Ville?

In football? The game never happens, if for no other reason than UC was not rated high enough before the season even started. In hoops? Sky is the limit for both these young squads. Anything less than an end to the NCAA drought would be considered a disappointment.

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