Spring Top 25

Here are the early top 25 lists from Sports Illustrated and ESPN:

SI: (Andy Staples)

1) Oklahoma
2) Oregon
3) Alabama
4) LSU
5) Stanford
6) Texas A&M
7) Oklahoma State
8) South Carolina
9) Florida State
10) Boise State
11) Ohio State
12) Nebraska
13) Arkansas
14) Michigan State
15) TCU
16) Wisconsin
17) Missouri
18) Auburn
19) Virginia Tech
20) West Virginia
21) Notre Dame
22) Mississippi State
23) Arizona State
24) Maryland
25) Utah

and ESPN: (Mark Schlabach)

1) Oklahoma
2) Alabama
3) Florida State
4) Oregon
5) LSU
6) Oklahoma State
7) Boise State
8) Stanford
9) Texas A&M
10) Michigan State
11) Arkansas
12) Wisconsin
13) Nebraska
14) West Virginia
15) Ohio State
16) Notre Dame
17) Georgia
18) Missouri
19) South Carolina
20) Texas
21) Arizona State
22) TCU
23) Virginia Tech
24) Florida
25) Mississippi State

and ESPN (Adam Rittenberg):

1) Alabama
2) Oklahoma
3) Oregon
4) Boise State
5) LSU
6) Stanford
7) Florida State
8) South Carolina
9) Ohio State
10) TCU
11) Arkansas
12) Texas A&M
13) Nebraska
14) Oklahoma State
15) Wisconsin
16) Michigan State
17) Missouri
18) Auburn
19) Notre Dame
20) Mississippi State
21) Virginia Tech
22) Florida
23) West Virginia
24) Arizona State
25) Georgia

So there you have it. I'll add more as I find them, but so far, the consensus seems to be: 1) The Big Three are Alabama, Oklahoma, and Oregon. 2) The Pac-12 will be a two-horse race between Oregon and Stanford. 3) The Big Ten could be a mess, but it should be some combination of Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin at the end. 4) Florida, Ohio State (suspensions), Texas, and USC (sanctions) should all be absent from the BCS this year.

I Am Excited About Baseball

Five World Series Match-Ups Joel Would Like to See (In Order of Descending Plausibility):

1) Boston Red Sox (25-22) vs San Francisco Giants (27-19): In 107 years, the Giants and the Red Sox have met each other exactly once in the World Series: In 1912, a 4-3-1 win for the Red Sox, marked by the great pitching of Smoky Joe Wood and an exciting 10th inning win by the Red Sox in Game 8 of the series. A match-up this year would pit the reigning NL champ against one of the most popular franchises in all of baseball, and the champions from 2004 and 2007. Also, it would highlight two awesome cities, and would be the ultimate anti-NY-LA World Series.

2) Cleveland Indians (30-15) vs Cincinnati Reds (25-23): I keep waiting for the Indians to fall apart, but it's the end of May now and and they are at a .667 winning percentage and have a 7 game lead in the division, by far the largest in baseball. Meanwhile, Cincinnati benefits from both awesome hitting and awesome pitching. And can you say "Battle of Ohio"? Or how about, "first Cleveland championship in 64 years"?

3) Tampa Bay Rays (26-22) vs Florida Marlins (26-19): I don't really know why neither of these teams have really been able to catch on with their respective fan bases. The Marlins have championships in 1997 and 2003, and Tampa Bay losing one in 2008. Combined, these teams have made the state of Florida one of the most successful in the country over the course of the past 15 years. But then, how come nobody ever comes to their games? Maybe this World Series match-up will teach everyone to love the Rays and the Marlins. More likely it will lead to record low TV ratings and mass rioting and looting along the eastern seaboard.

4) Seattle Mariners (23-24) vs Milwaukee Brewers (25-23): With the Texas Rangers' winning of the AL pennant last year, Seattle is now the only AL team never to make it to the World Series. (The Washington Nationals are the only NL team never to do so.) Milwaukee, meanwhile, used to be from Seattle, until 1969, as the Seattle Pilots, and used to play in the American League, until 1997. Also, Milwaukee has only been to the World Series once, in 1982, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. So this would just be fun.

5) Chicago White Sox (22-27) vs Chicago Cubs (20-25): This would be a stupid and boring World Series between two stupid and boring teams.

The End.