1) Stanford beats Oklahoma with Andrew Luck. No doubt about it. At all.
2) The BCS games have been a disappointment for the most part. The smaller, traditional bowls (Alamo, Sun, Outback) have all been far more interesting. Hopefully, tonight’s national championship game will be more interesting.
3) Pac-10: 2-5 in bowl games, yikes. Still, the league is looking scary next year. SC will be strong with Matt Barkley getting another year of experience. Oregon will be the favorite since they are returning Masoli, James and most of their defense. Stanford should be strong with Andrew Luck, but will need to replace Toby Gerhart. Washington is dangerous with Jake Locker back. Oregon State is always solid. As is CAL. Arizona and Arizona State are question marks, but have high upside. Not so sure about UCLA. WSU is a doormat.
4) As for the Giants, they look like they’ll be taking a step back this year in order to take a step forward in 2011. They’re replacing Bengie Molina and Brad Penny with Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey. Posey and Bumgarner are two huge parts of their future. Posey projects as a #3 type hitter who can hit for average and power. His major project, though, will be learning to catch the Giants very talented power arms. Bumgarner had an underwhelming debut, but was still solid and could be an ideal #5 starter. There’s some upside with him in the rotation as opposed to say, Jon Garland.
5) Watched a lot of Sharks over the break. Still not enough there to determine how they’ll do in the playoffs. Would like to see them add a second/third line power forward who will stand in front of the net on the power play (Ethan Moreau?) and a defenseman. I think they may be capped out.
6) 49ers: I want them to draft a QB (Sam Bradford!), but they won’t. They need to improve the offense significantly. If the offense can just stay on the field, the defense will be better rested. I would use their first round picks on a cornerback (Joe Haden) and then trade down to grab an offensive lineman or two or three. I would also love to see them add some speed to offense and the return game. Jahvid Best or Joe McKnight anyone? A short yardage back would also be nice (see Toby Gerhart).
