How sweet it is: Another Final Four without the ACC

MLB predictions, Peyton on SNL, a fantasy baseball bust and other rambling from the week that was in sports.

By Greg Wiley
The Phanatic Magazine

First, I want to apologize for missing last week's column. I was bombarded with emails this past week asking where the "ramblings" were, all I can say is sorry. I was held up in bed sick as a dog and couldn't muster enough energy to ramble. So I'll have to make up for it this week.

Let's start with the NCAA Tournament. How great was it that the Tar Heels blew a 10-point lead against Georgetown with six minutes left on Sunday and were outscored 31-9 to end the game? As a Big East guy, I was rooting for the Hoyas and put the "Wiley Mush" on the Tar Heels when I proclaimed that the game was over after North Carolina went ahead by double digits. I love tricking the Gods of fate that way.

Coming into the tournament many "experts" were touting the ACC as the best conference in the country, with seven squads making the Big Dance. Yet by the end of the second round there was only one left (UNC). ACC powerhouses, Duke, Virginia Tech and Maryland were beaten by mid-major programs (VCU, Southern Illinois and Butler, respectively), while Georgia Tech was ousted in the first round by Mountain West program UNLV.

Now, for the second straight year the Final Four doesn't have an ACC representative, marking the first time since 1979 and 1980 that the ACC failed to have a Final Four team in consecutive years. I think this means that we can officially stop calling the ACC one of the best conferences in the country for a while. At least I will...

Sticking with the tournament, I'm sure most of you will be glad to hear I can finish third in my pool. After having three of my Final Four teams advance (UCLA, Florida, OSU -- Texas let me down), I can get third-place money if UCLA beats Ohio State in the final. My prize? Not sure, but after the start I had to the tourney I'll take the third place finish without any cash...

Sunday is the start of the baseball season, so before things officially get underway let me give you some of my pre-season predictions. First, my division winners are as follows: Mets (NL East), Cardinals (NL Central), Giants (NL West), Yankees (AL East), Twins (AL Central) and Rangers (AL West). The wild card teams will be the Phillies and the Indians. The Rangers will beat the Mets in the World Series. I say that only because you have to remember that the two other teams that fired Buck Showalter won the World Series the very next year. Texas canned Showalter in favor of Ron Washington after last year.

As for the awards, Johan Santana and Carlos Zambrano will win the Cy Young awards, Lance Berkman and Alex Rodriguez will win the MVP awards, and Arizona's Chris Young and Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka will take home Rookie of the Year honors. Don't fear Phillies fans, Brett Myers will garner attention for the Cy Young award, while Chase Utley will finish higher in MVP voting than Ryan Howard, but both will be in the top-10...

By the way, anyone still think that Kevin Durant should be drafted over Greg Oden? You're crazy if you do...

Anyone catch Peyton Manning on Saturday Night Live? I managed to see a few skits and caught most of the highlights. Among the funniest were his spoof on the United Way commercials and his joke about what the circus and Tom Brady have in common. I also liked the line about a little pee coming out. He did a good job of making fun of himself. Like him or not as a quarterback, he's a pretty funny guy...

I finally had my fantasy baseball draft this past Saturday, and boy did I drop the ball. As you know I'm in a keeper league and held on to Utley, Howard, Manny Ramirez, Carlos Lee, Brandon Webb and Ryan Zimmerman. I drafted fifth overall and my first three picks were Adam Dunn, Rafael Furcal and Myers. Needless to say I'm not happy with my team. I didn't get one player I had targeted and on a couple of occasions selected a player I didn't want (why? I don't know). One round I took Scott Rolen and in another I picked Josh Beckett. I continually passed on a player I liked, hoping he would make it back to me in the next round -- and he didn't. Players I wanted and missed out on include, Alex Rios, Scott Kazmir, Francisco Rodriguez, Ricky Weeks, Brian Roberts, Matt Cain and Adam Wainwright. Moral of the story. Take who you want regardless of the round.