Five at 10: Hecklers, Seahawks, and Karma for the King

Somebody stop the music

It was a crazy season in college football capped by Auburn winning the BCS championship on a last-season field goal to top Oregon in one of the more unlikely national championship matchups in recent memory.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was just two short years ago when Auburn hired Gene Chizik and Oregon hired Chip Kelly. Chizik, who was met by the infamous heckler at the Auburn airport, is 22-5, and Kelly is 22-4 during the last two seasons.

Two years ago was when UT hired Lane Kiffin in what everyone assumed was the biggest hiring coup. Three years ago, Michigan went with more style than substance and lured Rich Rodriguez away from West Virginia.

Point being, coaching hires - not unlike recruiting classes - can't be fairly judged for at least two years, which does not feed into our "Win right now, I wanted it yesterday" public persona.

That said, here are the 5-at-10's instant gratification winners and losers from the coaching turnover during this crazy offseason:

WINNERS

Michigan: New coach Brady Hoke wants to be there. He wants to coach Michigan regardless of the money or the circumstances. The split had to occur, if no other reason than the lethargy that was setting in at Ann Arbor. And when you have a stadium that seats 100,000-plus, you can't have fan indifference when it comes to football or all the other programs suffers. The fan base is excited about Hoke, and that means a lot, especially for a proud program that has been through a lot and will go through some more as Hoke converts back to a pro-style offense from the Rich Rod spread.

San Diego State: By moving quickly and in-staff to replace Hoke, the Aztecs get to continue the momentum Hoke started. Think the Aztec program and new coach Rocky Long aren't already looking toward that Sept. 24 trip to Michigan next year?

Auburn: In the no news is good news category, the Tigers may keep their staff intact for back-to-back seasons. And for an SEC team that is riding a wave of success - including a national title - to say that is huge. Especially considering that offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was on the short list for a couple of head coaching jobs, but will be back in Auburn next fall.

LOSERS

Pitt: Wow. they dropped the hammer on Dave Wannstedt, who suddenly is a hot name in NFL circles and will likely land as a coordinator in the league next year. They hire Miami of Ohio's Mike Haywood, who was fired less than a month later after being arrested and charged with felony domestic assault. They turned to former Tulsa coach Todd Graham, who is scrambling to protect a recruiting class that was once ranked in the top 20, but now has all of seven commitments. Plus, three of the Panthers' top offensive players have declared for the draft.

Maryland: Another program that dropped the shoe on a pretty good coach because the administration wanted more. The Terps asked Ralph Friedgen - only a UM alum and the 2010 ACC coach of the year - to leave to reportedly hire a flashy name to take the program to the next level. Former Texas Tech whiz Mike Leach was rumored to be the lead guy, then it was Malzahn. But the Terps settled on the straight-forward style of Randy Edsall, the former UConn coach. OK.

BIGGEST UNKNOWN

Florida: It's gotta be the Gators, right? I mean this is a top-five program nationally over the last decade and probably one of the top 10 jobs out there and Florida gave Will Muschamp the keys. Yes, Muschamp has been the hottest defensive coach out there for a few years, but he has zero head coaching experience. This will either be a home run or a called third strike - it's hard to see any in between.

AP: Michigan gets its man?


Duke goes down

The No. 1-ranked Duke Blue Devils know they are going to get everyone's best shot. It's like that for the big boys in college sports and it's magnified when those big boys are ranked No. 1.

It's part of the process, and in the end it makes those teams better prepared for the pressure of the postseason.

Along the way, though, underdogs occasionally land those haymakers, like Florida State did on Wednesday with a 66-61 win over defending champion Duke that ended the Blue Devils' 25-game winning streak. In fact, this is becoming somewhat of a Tallahassee tradition, not unlike the Chop and a football meltdown against N.C. State.

This is the third time since 2002 that the Seminoles have topped a No. 1-ranked Duke team in their gym.

Don't exactly go falling in love with this FSU team though. This is the same group that lost to Auburn, which lost to UNC-Asheville, which lost to Furman, which lost to High Point, which lost to Citadel, which faces UTC tonight. So, well, nevermind, the 5-at-10 is confused.

AP: Kitchen leads FSU to 66-61 upset of No. 1 Duke


Uh, really? Are you sure?

Clicking channels last night and a couple of college basketball games caught my eye. First, Pittsburgh is good. The 5-at-10 was impressed with the Panthers' 72-57 win at No. 19 Georgetown.

Villanova beat No. 17 Louisville 88-74, extending the Wildcats' winning streak to 10 in a row.

Couple things about these game:

- Georgetown is now 1-4 in Big East play and ranked No. 19 in America. SEC has football, Big East has hoops. End of discussion.

- Other than being in ranked the top-10 and contenders in the Big East, know what Pitt and 'Nova have in common? Thats right, each team's one loss is to Tennessee. Yep, against every other program in the country, Pitt and Villanova are a combined 31-0 and a combined 0-2 against the Vols. Yes, those same Vols that have lost three of their last four and six of their last nine since starting the season 7-0.


Playoff preview, part III

Seattle stole the show in the first round of the playoffs, drubbing the defending Super Bowl champ Saints and putting the kibash on this reseeding talk. Sure the Seahawks squeaked into the postseason. Yes, the Seahawks will have to win the Super Bowl to clinch a winning record this season (Crazy, right?). Sure, the Seahawks have like five players that would start for the Patriots or the Steelers or just about any other team still alive and chasing the title.

But they are still alive, and that's all that matters. And they get a great draw this weekend, going to Chicago on Sunday.

Great matchup you say, well, that's not because of any particular thing the Seahawks do or don't do; it's because of Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler, who in the NFL's current Master of Momentum. And that applies in both directions.

If Cutler gets going and is slinging it around and having fun - like he did in his December torching of a New York Jets defense that was one of the NFL's best all season - the Bears are going to be a tough out.

If Cutler gets going the other way and is slinging it around to the Seahawks, well, it's going to be a long day for the home team in the Windy City.

Side note: The over-under is at 22-and-a-half on the times we'll see the replay of Marshawn Lynch's game-sealing run when he broke a tackle from about half the residents of New Orleans and knocked the Starbucks out of Terry Porter with a stiff arm/left cross.

AP: Seattle savor surprising surge from unlikely team


Karma is a tough one

OK, let's just assume that LeBron James is no longer on the Cleveland Cavs' Christmas card list.

Quick back story for those who have been trapped on a deserted island for eight months: James played the first seven years of his career with the Cavs, lifting them to franchise bests in wins and postseason advancement. As a free agent, he left for Miami this offseason, doing so on national TV and uttering the unforgettable "I'm taking my talents to South Beach," on his way out of town. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert blows a gasket and writes a letter that goes as far as cursing James and the team for which he plays.

That was during the summer. Well, now that the seaosn is here, the Miami Heat and James have hit full stride. The Cavs have lost 11 in a row and were humiliated 112-57 to the Lakers on Tuesday night.

After the Cavs' 55-point loss, James posted on his Twitter "Crazy. Karma is a b****. Gets you every time. It's not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!"

Although James said Wednesday he did not write the post, telling the AP Wednesday night before the Heat faced the Clippers: "It wasn't even a comment from me, it was someone who sent it to me and I sent it out. It wasn't toward that team. It definitely wasn't a good showing by that team last night, I know they wish they would've played better."

As for Karma, let's just say her mystical powers do not pick sides. James and the Heat lost 111-105 to end Miami's 13-game road winning streak. Plus, James twisted his ankle and is listed as day-to-day.

Whoooooo-hoooo-hoooooooo (Or whatever creepy sound effect you need here).

Until tomorrow, when we will have predictions on all the NFL playoff games.

AP: James' instant karma

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