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Jay Myers, the first editor of Basketball Times during the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era, has studied the sports scene closely for many years as both journalist and game analyst. His college basketball J-ratings, which appear beginning in late January, place teams in their projected March Madness seeds. He has been a guest of Rick Barry (San Francisco), Doug Russell (Sporting News), Jeff Aaron (Seattle), Grant Napier (Sacramento), Chad Hastings (Austin), Arnie Spanier (Atlanta), Stan Savran (Pittsburgh), Kevin Rogers (Kansas City) and many others discussing college basketball, the NFL, and college football.
Questions or comments? Contact Jay at Jcard64@aol.com
Sunday Sauce
Saints' defense may be better than the franchise's average version, but Romo's mobility and the Superdome's good climate control will give the visitors some assistance in trading points with the hosts' high-powered offense. COWBOYS... Jay Cutler's arm will fire away with impunity in a meaningless (except for pride which does count) game for the Bears. Ravens are back in the playoff hunt and figure to be conservative on offense in trying to get the simple W and move on. BEARS... Frigid weather won't do Tom Brady and Randy Moss any good, and this game is the Super Bowl for the home team who actually has the better ground game. BILLS... After 48-3 drubbing by Ravens, the Lions figure to put on a tougher game face for the tired Cards this week. Only Green Bay has embarrassed the Lions in Detroit, perhaps a weak recommendation but enough for me. LIONS... Mangini will have his Browns ready for a weak foe on the road even after big win over Steelers. He needs to pad his resume and his club has three extra days to get ready. BROWNS... Falcons are not out of the playoff chase yet, and the Jets lack the sizzle in their offense to create distance on the scoreboard between them and most foes. Sanchez' sick TD-INT ratio gives visitors hope. FALCONS... Niners' very good run defense will stymie overrated Eagles. Singletary has an easy motivational road this week: beat Philly and we only have Detroit and St. Louis standing between us and 9-7. 49ERS... Steelers can still get to 9-7 and 6-6, probably not enough to make the playoffs but enough to dissipate some of that nauseous feeling. Question is, is that enough to beat the surging Packers? Probably not in a sport in which the will to fight is paramount. PACKERS... Rams under Spagnuolo have generally followed decisive defeats with better efforts and I would expect the same as the roster looks to impress their new coach in anticipation of post-season roster shuffling. RAMS... Gimmicky offense of Dolphins does not seem to fit on the road against a well-coached host. Wins over New England and Jacksonville may have justified Miami as a credible team but the next three results will determine whether the Fish are a contender. TITANS... Josh McDaniels knows this is a must-win, and he won't put Kyle Orton in risk situations figuring the Raiders can't outscore his team. RAIDERS... Death of Chris Henry will spur Bengals to mighty effort at San Diego, while the hosts won't fight back much after winning at Dallas in a big game last week. Bengals' defense contains cornerbacks who can cover and linebackers and safeties who can tackle. BENGALS... The pounding that Seattle took at Houston won't be forgotten by the home fans. Seahawks have no chance at playoffs and Bucs' defense won't have much to fear in this who-cares kind of game. BUCS... Panthers will play with pride at home in facing the accomplished Vikings and Brett Favre. Julius Peppers could put a real hurt in Minny's post-season dreams if he nails Favre with a good shot. PANTHERS... Giants don't stop people on the road and Washington will be licking its chops to get a division win that would put a bullet into the Giants' chances for the playoffs. REDSKINS...
Best (and worst) They Can Get---------NFL
Pittsburgh 9-7 (6-10), 6-6 conf; Atlanta, 9-7 (6-10), 6-6 conf; Baltimore 10-6 (7-9), 8-4 conf, 4-2 div; Green Bay 12-4 (9-7), 9-3 conf; Houston 9-7 (6-10), 6-6 conf; Denver 11-5 (8-8), 8-4 conf, 5-1 div; Miami 10-6 (7-9), 8-4 conf, 4-2 div; Jacksonville 9-7 (7-9), 8-4 conf; Cincinnati 12-4 (9-7), 9-3 conf, 6-0 div; New England 11-5 (8-8), 8-4 conf, 4-2 div; NY Jets 10-6 (7-9), 7-5 conf, 2-4 div; Tennessee 9-7 (6-10), 5-7 conf; San Diego 13-3 (10-6), 9-3 conf, 5-1 div; Dallas 11-5 (8-8), 9-3 conf, 4-2 div; Philadelphia 12-4 (9-7), 10-2 conf, 5-1 div; NY Giants 10-6 (7-9), 8-4 conf, 4-2 div; Arizona 11-5 (8-8), 9-3 conf, 4-2 div; San Francisco 9-7 (6-10), 8-4 conf, 5-1 div;
Selection Sunday--------JayBrackets
1--Louisville, North Carolina, Pitt, Memphis 2--Connecticut, Duke, Michigan State, Oklahoma 3--Missouri, Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Villanova 4--Kansas, Syracuse, Purdue, Washington 5--Xavier, UCLA, Florida State, Arizona State 6--Illinois, West Virginia, Ohio State, Clemson 7--Butler, BYU, LSU, Oklahoma State 8--Marquette, Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M 9--Michigan, California, Wisconsin, Utah 10--USC, Boston College, Siena, Minnesota 11--Maryland, Utah State, Creighton, Dayton 12--Mississippi State, Temple, VCU, Cleveland State 13--Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky, Stephen F. Austin, N. Dakota State 14--Akron, Robert Morris, American U., Portland State 15--Binghamton, Cal State-Northridge, East Tennessee State, Morgan State 16--Cornell, Radford, Chattanooga, Alabama State, Morehead State --------------------- StatPower First set of numbers is defensive ratio thus far in 2008. Second set is offensive set. Third numeral is raw net rating. Fourth number is opponents' average net rating. Fifth number is team's adjusted offense+defense rating. Sixth stat is takeaway/giveaway ratio. Seventh comment is whether team has plus or minus special teams. No entry here means special teams are average. Last comment is red zone efficiency. Through week 12 Tennessee 755/147 751/286 12 n4 4 +13 Philadelphia 758/154 784/286 9 0 4 +1 Pittsburgh 737/114 745/205 7 0 3 +4 San Diego 810/283 664/255 10 1 5 -2 Indianapolis 757/233 742/272 4 0 2 +5 minus-specs NY Giants 689/151 777/330 8 n1 3 +10 plus-specs Green Bay 747/241 767/254 n1 2 0 +4 Chicago 804/242 755/234 3 n1 1 +6 New Orleans 756/238 777/335 6 0 3 -5 Tampa Bay 706/142 789/235 1 1 1 +3 plus-specs Carolina 767/206 707/255 9 0 4 +5 Atlanta 782/265 769/286 3 2 2 -1 Dallas 721/189 729/279 7 n2 2 -5 Denver 765/300 744/308 2 0 1 -11 minus-specs NY Jets 750/227 759/277 3 n2 0 -1 plus-specs Baltimore 677/129 809/251 n1 1 0 +7 plus-specs Arizona 712/273 773/333 0 1 0 even minus-specs Seattle 803/278 684/164 0 0 0 -5 Miami 705/214 737/268 2 n2 0 +10 minus-specs Cincinnati 801/278 733/136 n6 3 n2 -5 Jacksonville 722/245 755/229 n4 0 n2 -1 Cleveland 753/280 704/203 n2 0 n1 +6 plus-specs Minnesota 710/172 771/207 n2 1 n1 even minus-specs San Francisco 797/258 694/164 1 n1 0 -13 plus-specs Oakland 785/257 691/121 n4 1 n2 +4 plus-specs Buffalo 727/241 747/209 n4 n2 n3 -5 Washington 688/209 772/223 n6 1 n3 +2 minus-specs New England 687/227 751/244 n4 0 n2 -3 Kansas City 735/295 729/184 n9 2 n4 +5 Houston 709/304 741/265 n6 0 n3 -10 Detroit 744/342 675/110 n14 1 n7 -9 St. Louis 755/317 747/93 n18 2 n8 -9 plus-specs Drive Chart First set of numbers is percentage of opponents' successful drives. Second set of numbers is percentage of team's own successful drives. Third set of numbers is difference between own percentage and opponents' percentage measured in hundredths of a percentage point. Fourth set of numbers of opponents' difference between own percentage and opponents' percentage measured in hundredths of a percentage point. Fifth set of numbers is actual drive differential. Sixth set of numbers of takeaway/giveaway ratio. Seventh set of numbers is red zone efficiency. Through week 5 Buffalo .241 .345 104 n60 22 .655 9/9 Miami .412 .352 n60 18 n21 .750 8/4 New England .321 .356 35 n36 n1 .618 6/7 NY Jets .357 .368 n11 6 n3 .674 10/13 Baltimore .263 .241 n22 20 n1 .583 9/13 Cincinnati .338 .257 n61 56 n3 .678 10/13 Cleveland .288 .265 n23 65 58 3 .647 12/7 Pittsburgh .179 .357 158 n13 72 .823 10/6 Houston .446 .385 n61 n13 n37 .700 5/14 Indianapolis .417 .340 n77 15 n31 .794 10/8 Jacksonville .407 .388 n19 32 6 .559 9/7 Tennessee .200 .305 105 n54 25 .861 14/8 Denver .439 .400 n39 n38 n39 .708 7/11 Kansas City .377 .175 n202 n9 n106 .666 11/10 Oakland .356 .231 n125 n16 n71 .625 10/8 San Diego .407 .458 51 n1 25 .692 10/9 Dallas .377 .382 5 46 25 .682 7/13 NY Giants .308 .500 192 n71 59 .680 5/4 Philadelphia .262 .373 111 n24 43 .673 12/7 Washington .286 .365 79 34 56 .729 8/5 Chicago .250 .250 0 1 0 .696 16/11 Detroit .426 .242 n184 23 n81 .833 6/9 Green Bay .279 .429 150 n23 63 .732 14/8 Minnesota .279 .321 42 9 25 .575 11/15 Atlanta .357 .400 43 n23 10 .600 7/5 Carolina .203 .290 87 n10 38 .647 9/9 New Orleans .365 .350 n15 8 n4 .646 9/13 Tampa Bay .254 .265 11 n1 5 .625 15/11 Arizona .358 .474 116 16 66 .714 11/12 St. Louis .375 .226 n149 43 n53 .625 9/6 San Francisco .406 .371 n35 32 n2 .659 10/18 Seattle .464 .230 n234 45 n95 .656 5/11 NFL Preview -------------------
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The College Football J-RatingsCopyright 2009 by Jayson Myers.