Who Ain't Now: Teams Bracket

Big news here, I got the first comment on the blog! Thanks John! He brought up some good points about the matchups in round 1. Hopefully today's matchups in the Teams Bracket will generate even more controversy.

Without further ado...here we go:

Teams Bracket

1) the New York Yankees vs. 8) Duke Basketball

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Bigtime matchup of two teams that people love to hate and that haven't won a championship since early this century. Duke last won in 2001 and the Yanks in 2000. So which team is less "now" but is still swarmed by media attention?

Regular season production really isn't a question when it comes to these two teams. The Yankees have won the last 9 AL East Division titles. In spite of this, since their World Series 3-Peat from 1998-2000, they have only reached the Fall Classic twice (2001 and 2003). In 2004, as we may well remember, the Yankees became the first team in professional baseball history, and only the third team in North American pro sports history, to lose a best-of-seven series after taking a 3-0 series lead. Their 2001 World Series loss came at the hands of a Diamondbacks team they should have beaten, but ex-Bucco Jay Bell came through to score the winning run in the 9th inning. 2003 saw the Yankees lose the the Wild Card Florida Marlins. In spite of having the highest payroll in baseball, the Yankees postseason production in the "now" era has been sub-par.

On the other side we have the Duke Blue Devils. Personally, I'm a bit biased here as I hate the Yankees but do love Duke. I know, you may think I sold my soul to the devil for saying that I like Duke, but deal with it. The reason Duke is in this bracket is for their lack of post-season production and total media flocking around them. Duke's last championship came in 2001. Duke has won 7 of the last 9 ACC Tournaments and 7 of the last 11 ACC Regular Season titles. In the past 11 years, Duke has made the Final Four 3 times and had a streak of 9 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances snapped last year. The last time Duke missed the NCAA tournament came in the 1994-95 season. Additionally, last year was the first time in 11 years they did not finish the season in the top 8 in the AP Poll.

So which despised team takes the cake? The regular season production of both of these teams isn't to be doubted, and both teams have struggled in 2007. However, the fact that the Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead against the Red Sox stands out like a sore thumb, and carries them on to the next round of the "Who Ain't Now" tournament.

2) the Dallas Cowboys vs. 7) the New Jersey Devils

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Seems like the Dallas Cowboys, in spite of only making the playoffs twice this century are always at the front of the news. Whether it's their penchant for hiring media-feisty coaches (Bill Parcells) or media-gobbling players (TO and Keyshawn Johnson), the Cowboys flare is much, much bigger than their actual punch. Since winning the Super Bowl in January of 1996, the Cowboys have gone a lowly 1-5 in the playoffs. Pomp and circumstance surround the Cowboys, including their ultimate choke-job loss to the Seahawks in the first round last year. Not to mention that they had the division firmly in hand with 5 weeks to go in the season and let Philly take the title from them. The Cowboys haven't won a division title since 1998, when they lost to the Cardinals, yes the Cardinals, in the playoffs. For the record, that was the first post-season win by Arizona since Hillary Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger were born. For those that didn't know, that was 1947.

I tried to think of something to write about how annoying the Devils are, but I fell asleep just thinking about them. They're so freaking boring it's unreal. Since the lockout the Devils have lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champions 4-1 in the second round both years. For the record, they lost in the first round 4-1 to the Flyers the year before the lockout.

Feeling refreshed after my nap, I've decided that even though the Devils are possibly the most boring team ever............the Cowboys are moving on to the next round. At least the Devils have made the playoffs every year this century. And, since ESPN doesn't have the broadcasting rights to the NHL, they don't go around praising the greatness of hockey, which is one of the things that makes hockey a pretty good sport right now.

3) Notre Dame Football vs. 6) the US Ryder Cup Team

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Touchdown Jesus faces off with one of the worst All-Star teams in recent memory...besides the National League Baseball All-Star team. While the NL team is resigned to losing (see: LaRusa keeping Pujols on the bench the entire game this year), the hype surrounding the Ryder Cup team is, well...about as exciting as a team golf tournament can get. In spite of two spankings 18.5-9.5 the last two Ryder Cups, we keep hearing that "this is the year" for the US. There's not much to say here besides the fact that the US Ryder Cup team just...chokes. In spite of having arguably the top golfers in the world.

And then there is Notre Dame Football. Losers of 9 consecutive Bowl appearances. Supposedly there's no such thing as a "sure thing" in sports. Except Notre Dame losing a bowl game. Since the introduction of the BCS in 1998, Notre Dame is 0-3 in BCS games. In BCS bowls since 1995 they are 0-5. What irks me even more is Notre Dame's "special exemption" that they get in order to play in the BCS. Join a conference. Everyone else has done it except for Army, Navy and Western Kentucky. And don't try to pass off this "we play a harder schedule" crap. Last year when Notre Dame got owned by JaMarcus Russell and LSU in the Sugar Bowl, they didn't beat a team that was ranked in the Top 25 before bowl season. The year previous, when they were destroyed by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, they hadn't beat a team with a winning record all year. I think almost any team could win 6 games playing powerhouses like North Carolina, Stanford, Navy, Air Force, Purdue, Michigan State...Look at Notre Dame's schedule next year. After the USC game they don't have a serious game the rest of the year. What a joke.

So which team wins the battle of the joke teams? Well, since the Ryder Cup team only gets to suck once every other year and Notre Dame can wow us with their supposed awesomeness according to the media and then show how much of a joke they really are every year, the edge goes to Touchdown Jesus.

4) Kentucky Basketball vs. 5) Michigan Football

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To round out the Who Ain't Now bracket we have another matchup of two historically powerful teams that haven't done jack in the past few years. Due to their tremendous success in the past, these teams obviously garner a large following of fans. Another thing they have is the media sitting on their lap. What an outrage it was last year to the media gurus when Michigan was denied their chance in the national championship game. What happened then? Michigan got owned by USC and Florida smoked Ohio State. Ouch. This off-season we had to hear the whol ridiculous drama of Kentucky hiring a new basketball coach.

To the numbers, Michigan last won the national championship in 1997. Since then, they have won the Big 10 championship four times. However what gets them into this competition is the fact that they've lost 4 consecutive bowl games and 5 of their last 6. Three of those four losses have come in the Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. Additionally, Michigan has lost 5 of the last 6 games against arch-rival Ohio State.

On the other hand is the Kentucky Wildcats haven't made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament since 2005 and haven't won the SEC Tournament since 2004. Additionally, they have been a #8 seed for the past 2 years.

So which team has lacked more production? Neither have been outstanding in the past few years. However, I have to give the edge to Kentucky because of lack of actual production. Michigan, in spite of their end-of-season woes, has played well enough to be in the top 2 in the Big 10 almost every year. Kentucky, as of late, has slipped from prominence.

To recap the first round happenings in the Teams Bracket,

1) New York Yankees def. 8) Duke Basketball

2) Dallas Cowboys def. 7) New Jersey Devils

3) Notre Dame def. 6) US Ryder Cup Team

4) Kentucky Basketball def. 5) Michigan Football

We're halfway done with the first round!