The Dick Vitale Curse?

Just after Dick Vitale said during an ESPN broadcast that he felt the Big Ten is this year's strongest basketball conference, the Big Ten took a big dive:

• Illinois, formerly ranked 21st in the nation, fell to Utah and then to in-state "rival" Bradley.
  
• #15 Michigan lost to a supposedly rebuilding Marquette team.
• #16 Minnesota was shocked by Portland. It's never good when you lose to a school and you're not even sure where that school is located (Oregon? Maine? Somewhere else entirely?).
• #2 Michigan State lost to Florida, a team that has missed the NCAA tournament the last two years.

We'll see how the Big Ten/ACC Challenge goes this year. Of course, you can't set your expectations real high if you're a Big Ten fan--the ACC is 10-0 since the challenge began in 1999.

Golden draft choice?


It's yet to be decided whether Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate will enter the 2010 NFL draft or return for his senior year. And given that he's under 6' tall, I don't know where he would land if he did enter the draft (most likely somewhere between late first round and late second round).

But it's a damn shame the Bears don't have a first or second round draft pick (their first pick is the 12th pick of round three) to at least consider grabbing Tate. You know how much I hate the Irish (the team, not the people), but I couldn't believe my eyes watching the Notre Dame-Stanford game Saturday night. Tate is a monster, and I think the Steve Smith comparisons are legit. Obviously the Bears have many, many needs, but a playmaker at receiver wouldn't hurt. Perhaps Tate will return to college for one more year and fall in Chicago's lap in 2011 (but probably not).

(hat tip: Trevor Sierra, who texted me Saturday that the Bears should draft Tate)

Did you know ...

In NCAA football's top 25, there are no one-loss teams. There are six undefeated teams, eight two-loss teams, 10 three-loss teams and one four-loss team (Stanford). How weird is that??

(hat tip: Brian Brennan)