1.) Tonight’s Duke/Ohio State game pits two of the most impressive teams I have seen all season. Duke has looked great playing a very tough schedule (Belmont, Michigan State, Michigan, Tennessee, and Kansas). Ohio State has looked great, um, playing Florida? The Buckeyes’ schedule has not been very daunting, but they’ve handled it very well (see: UConn losing to Central Florida as an example of the opposite).

If you read my season preview, you’ll know that I picked both of these teams to reach the Final Four, with the Buckeyes winning it all. Trust me, neither team has done anything to indicate that I was crazy in these predictions.

The matchup to watch tonight doesn’t involve Ohio State’s star Jared Sullinger, or either of Duke’s Plumlee brothers. No, I’ll be watching the best defensive guard in the country, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, and the most heralded freshman in the nation, Duke’s Austin Rivers. This is where I think the game will be won by Ohio State. Expect Craft to swarm Rivers, who has been susceptible to the turnover early on (and susceptible to bad shots). I think Craft finishes the game with 5 steals. And Ohio State comes away with a 9 point victory. And if you, for whatever reason, can’t get to the game tonight (9:30 pm/ESPN), don’t fret. I think you’ll have a chance to see the rematch in early April. I will not be waiting until April.

2.) I often find myself enraged by inconsequential things. Anyone who knows me well, or sits near me at work, knows this. On Saturday, I gave the finger to a man who honked at a stoplight because the woman in front of me didn’t start moving quickly enough once the light turned green. The man, a taxi driver, made a point to pull up next to me and roll his window down, staring angrily at me at the next stoplight. I didn’t say a word. But I did think to myself, “This guy could just shoot Amanda and me right now.” Of course, the satisfaction I felt was completely outweighed by the danger I put myself and my live-in life partner in. But I know that my irrational anger will never change. It’s part of the fabric that makes me who I am.

Today, I want to give the finger to a number of pundits, both real and wannabe (like me!). This has nothing to do with traffic lights. Instead, it focuses on the BCS National Championship. You’ll recall that a few weeks ago, LSU and Alabama played a tightly contested game in Tuscaloosa that Louisiana State University won 9-6 in overtime.

I enjoyed this game very much. I do not care for the game that Big XII fans call “football,” where teams line up 5 wide receivers and have a quarterback throw to one of them, followed by everyone running to the new line of scrimmage, and repeating. Over and over. For 4 hours. Never once stopping to think, “Hey, maybe we should try to slow the other team down.” That’s not football. I mean, it’s football. But Red Grange rolls over in his grave when he watches Baylor play Oklahoma State.

This coming Saturday, the Big XII’s two best teams will square off in Stillwater, Oklahoma. And if the host Cowboys of Oklahoma State win, the town criers will gather and scream and beg. Their cause? Not wanting to watch a football game.

You see, LSU is undefeated and, barring a highly unlikely blowout loss to Georgia on Saturday, will assuredly find itself in the BCS Championship in January. The other spot is up for grabs. Most people believe it comes down to Alabama (1 loss, to LSU) and Oklahoma State (1 loss, to something called Iowa State).

Not wanting to see a rematch of a game you did not enjoy is not a proper measuring stick for determining the second best team in the country. Schedules are. Alabama wiped a very good Arkansas team off the field (as did LSU). Alabama barely lost to the best college defense I’ve seen in over a decade (LSU). Alabama beat a good Penn State team (B.S. “Before Sandusky) on the road. Alabama beat a then ranked Florida team, rather easily, on the road. Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State, who (with one game to play) find themselves 6-5. They barely beat Texas A&M and nearly lost to Kansas State. They also blew out teams like Kansas, Arizona, and Louisiana-Lafayette (who are a combined 14-22 on the season).

The thing that separates Oklahoma State and Alabama above all else though is this: 27.3 vs. 8.8. Those numbers are the average points allowed by each team’s defense, per game. Guess which one is Alabama.

The town criers will shout too about Oklahoma State’s wonder of an offense. And it is very impressive. They really did a great job of scoring a lot of points this season. They averaged 49.8 points per game. Alabama, of course, must have put up some pretty paltry numbers though, because they only scored 6 points against LSU. Yes, the Crimson Tide only averaged a pedestrian 36 points per game.

A great injustice will be done to the University of Alabama if a group of rogue voters decide on Saturday night (presuming an Oklahoma State win, which I don’t think will happen anyway) that they want to be the directors of programming for ESPN. The right to vote in polls does not include the right to choose what games you want to watch. I’d love to see Houston play LSU. I know that’s unrealistic. I also know that Alabama is better than Houston. In a 1-off game, the Cougars could beat LSU or Alabama. If they played 100 times, though, they’d lose about 99 them. I feel similarly about Oklahoma State’s chances. Especially when you consider that their exact offense is derived from the one that Houston runs. And Houston has the better quarterback.

I’ll be rooting for either of two scenarios when the final BCS standings are released Sunday night: 1.) Oklahoma State would have lost and LSU would have won or 2.) The people who think they get to choose what games they want to see decide to vote the truly deserving team #2 overall and just leave their TVs off on January 9th. There will be plenty of other people watching a real football game that night.

This isn’t about Joe Paterno’s 409 career victories. This isn’t about Joe Paterno passing Amos Alonzo Stagg for most games coached in college football. This isn’t about anything that happens on the field at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA.

This is about the failings of human beings, across a number of fronts.

And it is about legacies.

I don’t need to rehash the story at Penn State. And I only feel it necessary to comment because of the anger it stirs in me.Anger that stretches beyond the actions of Jerry Sandusky. What Sandusky did, over the span of at least a decade, is enough for me to advocate for the death penalty. Thankfully, I know that his prison term, when it comes, will not last very long. He will be handled in an appropriate manner by his fellow convicts. The American justice system will have done its part.

This is about Joe Paterno, the human being. This is about his defenders. This is about people with misguided priorities.

Joe Paterno may very well be a nice man. I know, from watching sports and reading about sports, that he is, in fact, not quite Mr. Rogers. He’s also not Hitler. He’s somewhere in between, like most of us. Joe Paterno may be a giving man. He may be humble. He may write really nice handwritten notes to friends and give thoughtful gifts to people.

The one thing I know about Joe Paterno is that one day, in 2002, he exhibited horrendous judgement. And for that, he deserves to be removed of his title of Head Coach of Football at Pennsylvania State University. Given the information by Graduate Assistant and former QB Mike McQueary that former coach Jerry Sandusky had raped a young boy in the showers of the athletic facility, Paterno did not go to police. Given the opportunity to prevent further horrific exploitation of children, Paterno didn’t go to police. No one did. They allowed a friend, colleague, and alum to carry on. State it any way you would like. But if Paterno (or McQueary, or school officials) had gone to the authorities, dozens of victims may have been spared. Instead, Jerry Sandusky was asked to not bring any children onto the campus. Heaven forbid he rape children on campus when he could do it anywhere else. Out of sight….

I’m beyond disgusted by the failings of Joe Paterno. I don’t know why Paterno didn’t go to the police. He says that he wasn’t told of the “graphic nature” of the incident. He testified that McQueary told him (Paterno) that he saw Sandusky fondling the boy. Was that not enough for Paterno? Would he rather have heard the graphic details?

Today, the winningest coach in college football history announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season. The end of the season cannot come soon enough. No parent should have to send their 18 year old son into the care of a man and an organization who turned away from such actions. We spend a lot of time talking about scandal in college football. Usually a booster giving money to an impoverished kid in exchange for his national letter of intent. And we act like the world is ending. Like lives are truly destroyed by this.

Lives were destroyed by Jerry Sandusky. To the defenders of Joe Paterno, many of them his former players, I ask them to take a moment to examine the scope of this situation. This is not a rogue booster slipping an envelope to an 18 year old kid, his father, or a middleman. This is the guy down the hall. The alum. The former coach. This is a guy with an office in the facility. A guy who was inexplicably on campus as recently as last week. 9 years after Mike McQueary (now the team’s WR coach) walked in on him in a shower with a boy. It’s disgusting. It’s appalling. It’s embarrassing.

I’ve heard a lot in the last few days about Joe Paterno’s spirit. I’ve heard him called “a fighter.” I wonder what exactly he is fighting. He made an egregious mistake. Not a football mistake. A human mistake. And he deserves to be punished for it, legacy be damned. Joe Paterno would not be coaching my team this Saturday against Nebraska. And he would not be coaching any subsequent games.

People say that he doesn’t deserve that kind of ending. And in a sense, that’s true. Football coach Joe Paterno deserves a hero’s sendoff. Banquets and bouquets from folks across the Big 10. Football coach Joe Paterno deserves his name on Beaver Stadium. Football coach Joe Paterno deserves one last celebratory game in State College.

Human Joe Paterno deserves none of that.

1.) The best talent in the sport in almost 20 years:

-Something strange happened at the conclusion of last season. 3 of the game’s biggest stars (Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger, Kentucky’s Terrence Jones, and North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes) all decided to return to school rather than join the NBA. Whether that was to win a title this year or because of the impending NBA lockout isn’t really important. What’s important is that their back. And their returns are reflected in the Preseason Top 25 as well. 1. North Carolina, 2. Kentucky, 3. Ohio State.

-Outside of returning stars, as is the case every year, an influx of great freshman talent comes into the national periphery this season. Austin Rivers at Duke. Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, and Michael Gilchrist at Kentucky. Andre Drummond at UConn. James McAdoo at North Carolina. And on. And on. A never ending list of 4 and 5 star talent. And each of those guys is expected to play a huge role on a National Championship contender.

2.) Hey, where’s the NBA?

-While the millionaires and billionaires argue about BRI (Basketball-Related Income) fans are left with a void when it comes to basketball. Where do they turn? Well, the answer is simple of course. It’s either college basketball or nothing. And because of the endless list of talent in the 2011-12 season, I think more people will watch the regular season than at any point in the last 20 years. So thank you, NBA lockout, for making college basketball better on two tracks this year.

Those of you who have read this blog since its inception (that’s just me) know that I rarely ever write an extensive college basketball preview. And this year isn’t really an exception. Trying to predict a college basketball season is very hard. In most sports, you have a season that determines something important. College basketball’s does not. 68 teams get into the tournament. Some of them are really mediocre. Others are really good. But once the postseason (March Madness) begins, it matters not what you did in the regular season. At all. There’s no home court advantage. There’s no Best-of-7. Or Best-of-5. If you finished the regular season 31-2, you are not guaranteed a run to the Final Four. In fact, in the second round, you might get face a team that poses stylistic matchup problems for your team. Or you might have to play near their campus. Or you might be playing in front of a hostile crowd, rooting for the upset. 31-2 matters not. Conference championships don’t either. It’s really all about March.

Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy November-early March. There will be a number of great games on the schedule. Must-watchers if you will, at least for the sheer excitement and talent level. Games in December can have rematches in March. And games in December can derail a team’s run to be one of the good, lucky, and mediocre 68. Here are 5 pre-March Madness games that are not to be missed:

1. North Carolina @ Kentucky (December 3, 2011)

We had the Game of the Century in college football this past weekend. This could be college basketball’s version. Both teams have tough games prior to this tilt (North Carolina against Wisconsin, Kentucky against Kansas and St. Johns). I expect both to be undefeated. If they are, this is the one not-to-miss in 2011-12.

2. North Carolina @ Duke (March 3, 2011)

They play in Chapel Hill in early February, but there’s something special about these games at Cameron Indoor. And this will be a special game.

3. Duke @ Ohio State (November 29, 2011)

The ACC/Big 10 challenge brings us this gem and one of the only potential hiccups for Ohio State before they begin conference play. For Duke, it’s their first true road game. A potential Final Four game.

5. Louisville @ Kentucky (December 31, 2011)

Not a bad way to end 2011. This is a big game for Rick Pitino. And that’s an understatement. The Cardinals have underachieved with a talented roster for the last few years. Bringing down a lot of people’s favorite to win it all would be a huge statement for Pitino and Louisville.

Also of note, North Carolina and Michigan State will play a game on a boat this Friday. The President will be there. Michigan State is not very good this year.

(just because it’s hard to predict, doesn’t mean I’m not going to try)

North Carolina

Kentucky

Ohio State

Duke

In the championship game, I’ll take the inside-out duo of Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger over North Carolina’s star-studded front court.

Sleeper Four (Four teams outside of the Top 10 today who could be around in early April in New Orleans)

Baylor

Wisconsin

UCLA

Xavier

Oh, and let the NBA take their time. They can take the whole season as far as I’m concerned.

Back in September I wrote that Wisconsin, “If they beat Nebraska, will be in great shape to get to New Orleans in January.” And while I’m not ruling out a trip by the Wisconsin Badgers to the Big Easy at some point in January, it certainly won’t be for the BCS National Championship. Unless they buy some tickets.

Back in September, I wrote that Oklahoma, “They’re a veteran group who is ready for the big time…” Apparently though, they’re not ready for a weather delay and a Texas Tech team who lost to Iowa State by 34 at home on Saturday.