Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The ninth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge tipped off with one game Monday night (Wake Forest's 56-47 win at Iowa), continued with a five-game slate last night, and will end tonight with five more games. The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup, which is awarded to the conference whose teams win more games in the Challenge, all eight years prior to this season's edition and they look well on their way to claiming the trophy this time around as well.

Through the six games played to this point, the ACC is 5-1; the only Big Ten team to win so far was Indiana, as the Eric Gordons beat Georgia Tech last night in Bloomington 83-79. You'd have to like the ACC's chances to win the Challenge again as they only need to win one out of tonight's five matchups and I wouldn't be surprised if they win a couple (North Carolina over Ohio State, Virginia Tech over Penn State).

Michigan's game against Boston College tonight (7:15 PM, ESPNU) will be another test for the young Wolverines. After going 1-2 in the Great Alaska Shootout to even up their overall record at 3-3, John Beilein's squad faces a BC team that is 4-0 and led by star guard and Richmond, VA product Tyrese Rice, who comes into the game averaging a nifty 21.3 points per game along with 7.7 assists. BC, like Michigan, is a guard-oriented team and relies on their quickness and shooting to win games and if the Wolverines can't slow them down, Boston College will remain undefeated. In Alaska, a much-smaller Butler team shot their way to victory and that's what BC will look to do tonight, so it's up to Michigan's 1-3-1 defense to pressure the shooters and force contested jumpers if they hope to send the Maize Rage home happy.

Goodbye, Billy Davies

As I predicted back on November 5th after Chris Hutchings was sacked by Wigan ("Billy Davies Next to Go?"), Derby County has ended Davies' tenure at the East Midlands club by "mutual consent", aka "take this buyout gratefully and we won't say we fired you."

Derby have just one win in the Premiership this season and have been held scoreless in six consecutive matches and seven out of their last eight. Their problem, as one pundit on FSC put it the other day, is that they're playing the same style of soccer as they played in the Championship, and that simply doesn't work. It's one thing to play the likes of Barnsley and Burnley and Stoke City (no disrespect to those clubs) and it's another to play Chelsea and Manchester United and Liverpool; any Premier League team for that matter. Derby's defense has been atrocious and they currently have a -28 goal differential. Most importantly for a team that was basically condemned back to the Championship before this season even started, they weren't showing any progress under Billy Davies and the change needed to be made.

This now makes five managers who started the year with a club to have left by "mutual consent" or been sacked (Chris Hutchings, Jose Mourinho, Sammy Lee, and Martin Jol), not counting Steve Bruce, who left Birmingham for Wigan. You would have to say that Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough and Sam Allardyce at Newcastle are now the odds-on leaders in the sack race.

Upon Further Review...

So, as I promised earlier, I've done some research on the other countries in England's World Cup qualifying group and even though qualifying is months away, I wanted to come out with a guide/primer/preview of sorts of England's competition in Group 6 while the topic was still fresh in people's minds:

1. Belarus---Currently coached by former East Germany boss Bernd Stange, the Belorussians are captained and led by their most recognizable player, Arsenal midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb. Belarus has only had a national team since 1992 (before that, their players and those in the other Soviet republics played for the USSR). They haven't participated in any World Cups as of yet; they finished 6th in their qualifying group in 1998 and 5th in 2006; in 2002 they finished 3rd and missed heading to South Korea/Japan by just two points. Belarus have also not qualified for any European Championships in their brief history either. In their most recent squad announced for these last two games of Euro 2008 qualifying, only two players currently play for domestic teams outside of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine (Hleb-Arsenal, Vitali Kutuzov-Pisa Calcio in Serie B).

2. Croatia---England fans know all about the Croatian national team and have probably seen more of them than they ever wanted to over these past few days after Croatia ended England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. Once again, this team is relatively new on the international landscape as Croatia only gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and their national team wasn't officially recognnized by FIFA and UEFA until 1992. They are coached by a former West Ham and Everton player, Slaven Bilić, who is just 39 years of age and was part of Croatia's third place team in World Cup 1998. He's fluent in German, Italian, and English and is a hot prospect to manage a high-level club in Europe sooner rather than later. Croatia has a roster full of extremely underrated but talented players, most notably (at least to Premiership fans) Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva, and Australian-born Josip Šimunić. They haven't lost a competitive match on home soil since 1994 and have participated in every World Cup that they've qualified for since becoming independent.

3. Andorra---Andorra are also new on the world stage as their national team hasn't been in existence for even 10 years. There really isn't much to say about this team; they've never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship, their highest ever FIFA world ranking is #125 in September 2005, and their current home stadium seats only 1,800 people. Andorra has only won three games in their brief history; their top goalscorer, Ildefons Lima, has four career tallies at the international level, and the team received more total yellow and red cards than any other team in Europe in World Cup 2006 qualification.

4. Ukraine---Aside from Croatia, Ukraine will be England's most serious threat to either win Group 6 or qualify for the second place-playoff. Ukraine, just like all the former Soviet republics, has only been in existence as an independent country with a national team since 1992. They've qualified for only one World Cup, the most recent one in 2006 (they were knocked out in the Quarterfinals by Italy, the eventual champions). Ukraine's first appearance in the European Championship will be in 2012 as they will cohost the event with Poland and thus automatically qualify; they didn't qualify in 1996, 2000, 2004, or for the next one in 2008. Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has the most career international goals for Ukraine (36 in 79 matches), and although they may benefit from the services of 33-year old midfielder and former Tottenham and West Ham player Serhiy Rebrov for some of the qualifying games, he almost certainly won't be around for the whole campaign.

5. Kazakhstan--Ah yes, another former member of the USSR. Kazakhstan actually competed in the AFC (Asian Federation) until 2002 when they joined UEFA, although they didn't win their first competitive match as part of UEFA until 2007, when they beat Serbia at home. Kazakhstan have never qualified for a World Cup, European Championship, or Asian Nations Cup and their most recent squad has only two players who play their club soccer outside of their home country (both play in Russia). Interestingly enough, they are coached by a Dutchman, Arno Pijpers, and he has experience in Kazakhstan having won the Kazakhstan Super League title in 2006 with FC Astana. Pijpers' career record with Kazakhstan is respectable (5-7-7), and those 5 wins put him in a tie for second place in most wins with the former Soviet republic.

England's World Cup Qualifying Group

More analysis forthcoming later, but here it is, European Zone Group 6:

England
Croatia
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
Andorra

Early prediction: Croatia will win the group and England will have to fight their way into the World Cup through the second-place playoffs.

Nicolas Anelka = Terrell Owens/Randy Moss?

Before I get to my idea I just want to put something out there, not just for this post but for every other post I make in the future. There is a reason I don't call "soccer" "football" on this site. As an American, I already have "football" and that's college football and the NFL, where they kick, punt, run, and throw the ball. What everyone else across the world calls "football" will always be called "soccer" here, so that's just for further reference. This particular post deals with athletes in both soccer and football, so that's why I wanted to make note of the distinction.

There is also a reason that Nicolas "The Incredible Sulk" Anelka has played for seven professional clubs even though he's still relatively young, just 28 years old. It's no coincidence that a striker who has scored (depending on what statistical site you look at) 110 goals in 327 league appearances since the 1995 season and represented his country 43 times since 1998 has bounced around from country to country (France, England, Spain, back to France, back to England, Turkey, and back to England). According to the commentators in today's Bolton-Manchester United match in which Anelka had the game-winning goal, Anelka is the second most expensive player in the world in terms of combined transfer fees paid with a total value of nearly $140 million US.

For someone who has played for some of the most historical, successful clubs in the world, Anelka sure knows how to rub his employers and teammates the wrong way. The longest he's ever stayed at one team is three seasons (Manchester City). You can't argue with his goal-scoring record; he's a prolific striker, but his problem is that wherever he goes, he's a cancer in the locker room/dressing room/changing room, whatever you want to call it.

In the NFL, a league known for its primadonna wide receivers and defensive backs, two players immediately stand out to be the same type of guy as Anelka. Mr. "I play when I want to play" Randy Moss, and Mr. "Get your popcorn ready, it's gonna be a show" Terrell Owens. Both of these guys are incredible, almost superhuman athletes; both have the talent to end up in the Hall of Fame as two of the best receivers to ever play the game of football, period. Both have already set numerous NFL records and with the way they're playing now, more will continue to fall when they're still playing.

Nicolas Anelka, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens. When you keep them happy and they're interested, these guys all produce and are or very near the best at their positions in their respective sports. When they're disgruntled or their team is losing or they're not getting the ball enough, they start whining and become guys you simply don't want to have on your team, regardless of how naturally gifted they are.

In Anelka's case, you can't argue with a goal every three games, which is his average over his career. What you can find fault in is his inability to grow up and mature and be part of a team because his behavior has a direct correlation with how the players on the field with him perform, and it's the same for Moss and Owens. Right now, Moss and Owens are in a good situation where their teams are winning and they're getting the ball, so they can't complain. Anelka, however, is scoring but his team isn't winning; Bolton, despite their huge win today, may be relegated at the end of the season. The biggest question, then, is this: Will he, like Randy Moss, who basically campaigned his way out of Oakland last year where the team was awful and he was simply disinterested, and like T.O., who left Philadelphia two seasons ago on bad terms and joined their rival in Dallas so he could burn them when the two teams played, try and leave Bolton for a better team in January? For Bolton's sake, hopefully not.

Thank God That's Over; Podcast News

Finally! The international break is over and at long last, I'm done with my season summaries for each of the 20 Premiership teams. I hope they were informative.

As I hinted before when talking about my colleague's new podcast, I have more info to pass on. Final details have still not been set in stone but we're aiming for a December 27th debut. The podcast will be released twice a week with my brother and I making our appearance on one of the shows, and each podcast will be about 45 minutes in length, give or take a few minutes depending on the news or the Premiership/European schedule.

Again, I'll have more details here when we figure everything out but until then, regular updates will be posted here concerning the new 3rd Half Podcast.

Enjoy the slate of games this weekend.

Season Summaries--1. Arsenal

1. Arsenal (My preseason prediction: 5th)

Arsenal has been very impressive this season, led by 20-year-old Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas and his 11 goals in all competitions, 6 in the Premiership. However, let's temper our enthusiasm for this team and not just hand them the title yet. The Gunners have played such a relatively weak schedule up to this point in the season and yes, it will obviously balance out but when you examine this team and the results they've gotten, one really wouldn't expect anything else against the teams they've played.

Don't get me wrong, Arsenal is a very good team. I just am curious to see how they play in the winter months when they can't play their trademark "beautiful football", when their young legs are tested with a large amount of games in a short period of time (8 games in December) and when they actually have to travel out of London to play against decent opposition. You can beat the likes of Wigan, Reading, Bolton, Fulham (they almost lost to the Cottagers), Derby, Newcastle, Sunderland, and West Ham all you want, but the title isn't going to be decided in games against those teams. To win the Premiership, you have to beat the good teams, the teams like Manchester United (2-2 draw at home), Liverpool (1-1 draw away) and Chelsea (haven't played yet).

Arsenal will advance to the Round of 16 in the Champions League, but depending on the result in their game at second-place Sevilla on the 27th, it may not be as their grouop's winner. That would open up the possibility of Arsenal playing Man U or Inter Milan or Barcelona (second place teams play group winners in the Round of 16) and would put the Gunners in a dangerous spot. They've also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup, where they'll make a trip to Blackburn in mid-December. Those two teams met in Ewood Park earlier this season; that match ended 1-1.

Season Summaries--2. Manchester United

2. Manchester United (My preseason prediction: 1st)

The first two months of the season couldn't have been anything less than a nightmare for Manchester United fans. After winning the Community Shield against Chelsea, last year's FA Cup winner, to start the year on a high note, injuries (Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick) and suspensions (Cristiano Ronaldo) had a significant impact on the defending champions and they couldn't get any continuity going. United's first seven games of the season all ended either 1-0 or 1-1, and not being able to score goals has never been a trademark of Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial style; his teams usually play with an up-and-down, attacking flair. The Red Devils started the year off with two draws and a loss in their first three league games and people (as they usually do) started reading too much into early season results and wrote this team off.

United have gotten healthier and more in sync as the season has gone on and their results bear this out. They are 4-0-0 in their Champions League group so far and since that early loss at Manchester City, United have gone 9-1-0 in the Premiership. There was a four-game stretch in which they scored 4 goals each game and in fact, they've scored 4 goals in 5 out of their last 7 matches in all competitions, including a dominating 4-1 win at Aston Villa. The high-flying theatrics should continue as well as their next three Premiership matches are against Bolton, Fulham, and Derby.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez are by far the best striking tandem in the Premiership, and I personally believe they're the best in Europe as well. The way these two play off each other and can find one another inside the opponent's penalty area is amazing; most importantly, their finishing ability is second to none. Cristiano Ronaldo is having another Player of the Year-type season with 6 goals from midfield in his 9 Premiership starts, and that doesn't even take into account the pinpoint crosses and through balls he's become known for in the past few seasons.

Unlike Arsenal, Manchester United have had a fairly difficult schedule and actually have played some teams that aren't in the bottom half of the table. They picked up a point at Portsmouth (an accomplishment considering Cristiano Ronaldo got sent off in the second half and Rooney wasn't even healthy enough to play), thrashed Villa 4-1, beat Chelsea 2-0, beat Blackburn 2-0, beat Everton 1-0, and drew with Arsenal 2-2 in a game where they were the better team for the full 90 minutes. When United are in form, which they are now, they can beat anyone on the continent and not only will they win the Premiership this season, they have as good a chance as any team to win the Champions League. Their only disappointment of the season came when they lost to Coventry City at home 2-0 in the Carling Cup, but fewer games to play is a blessing for United as they already have a packed schedule and a roster that isn't the most immune to injury. If they stay healthy, this team can pull off the Treble again.

World Cup Qualifying Draw

As many of you know, the qualifying draw for the 2010 World Cup will be made on Sunday in Durban, South Africa, the host nation for the world's biggest tournament. Because this is an English, American, and to a lesser extent, European soccer blog, I'll only be posting the UEFA and CONCACAF qualifying groups and commenting on those; if you want to see where your favorite Asian or African national team was drawn, there are plenty of other websites out there on which you can look.

Here are some notes surrounding the draw, taken straight from the BBC:

"The event will see Asia's groups drawn first, followed by those in the CONCACAF region, made up of countries in central and north America and the Caribbean.

About an hour into the draw, Europe will be put in the spotlight when its 53 teams are divided into nine qualifying groups - eight of six teams and one of five.

The winners of each European group will qualify for the World Cup finals and the best eight runners-up play off for four more qualifying berths.

The evening rounds off with the draw for the African Zone, where 48 teams will be placed into 12 groups of four teams.

There is no draw for South America and the Oceania region, who have already started their preliminary competition.

Europe has the biggest representation at the World Cup finals with 13 places.

Africa will have three rounds of qualification, the first of which is already completed.

Asia has five stages of qualification, two of which have been completed.

All of CONCACAF's 35 members have entered four stages of qualifying, the first two of which will be played on a knockout basis.

The 10 South American countries (CONMEBOL) began their super group in October.

Oceania is already deep into its qualifying campaign with a group competition involving Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Vanuatu."

England won't be amongst Europe's top seeds after they slipped to #12 in the latest FIFA world rankings, meaning they will be drawn in the same group as one of the following nations: Italy, the defending champions, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Greece, and the Czech Republic. Obviously from an English perspective, they'll hope to get drawn into a group with Greece.

Season Summaries--3. Manchester City

3. Manchester City (My preseason prediction: 15th)

Before I get to my summary, I have to try and cover my backside here. When I made my preseason prediction for City, it was before they had even signed Elano or Geovanni or Vedran Corluka, so when you all want to say "I told you so, I said City would be a top-10 team", at least take that into account.

I've said in previous posts that goal differential usually is a stat that doesn't mean much; I think it's a misleading and often meaningless figure. Bolton's top-8 success over the last few years wasn't exactly a masterpiece and their goal differential was usually lower than that of the teams directly above and even below them in the table but they still got the job done. However, when you're talking about the top teams in any given league, their goal differential is usually going to be relatively high simply because they win more games than they lose, and more often than not their margin of victory is at least a couple of goals.

Manchester City's goal differential is +3 right now, which isn't even comparable to those of Manchester United and Arsenal (+17), Chelsea and Portsmouth (+10), or Liverpool (+13), or the top teams City are either above or below in the table. That +3, in fact, is the least goal differential out of anyone in the top 10. That statistic alone tells me that Manchester City won't keep up the current form that's propelled them to 3rd place a third of the way through the season; I believe they are closer to a UEFA Cup spot finisher than a Champions League place finisher and I still think Portsmouth, Blackburn, Aston Villa, and maybe even Everton will finish ahead of the Citizens when all is said and done.

City's perfect home record (7-0-0) is offset by their poor road record (1-2-3; their only win came at West Ham). I know that they're not conceding many goals (13), but they're also not scoring at a high enough rate to compete with the high-flying teams in the Premiership, like Portsmouth, United, Aston Villa, and Arsenal. You simply can't win every game 1-0 like City has done throughout the year; eventually the magic runs out and 1-0 victories become 0-0 or 1-1 draws or even 1-0 losses. Let's also face the fact that aside from a victory over a much-weakened (due to injuries and suspensions) Manchester United side in mid-August and a solid home victory over Aston Villa, City hasn't really even beaten anyone good (West Ham, Derby, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Bolton, and Sunderland). They've played 3 games against teams I would consider to be equal competition (Blackburn, Villa, and Pompey; they haven't played Everton yet) and taken just four of a possible nine points. We won't even go into their 6-0 hammering at the hands of Chelsea or a 1-0 loss to Arsenal that easily could've been 3-0 or 4-0. Look, I'm not sold on City and they need to start playing better away from home and against teams comparable to them. They also have to figure out a way to score more goals because Elano can't score on a free kick every time, the strikers need to chip in as well. Two goals from Emile Mpenza and just one from big summer signing Rolando Bianchi isn't going to cut it.

Season Summaries--4. Chelsea

4. Chelsea (My preseason prediction: 2nd)

After José Mourinho's abrupt departure from Stamford Bridge on September 20, many people were skeptical about Avram Grant and how he would manage a team comprised largely of players brought in by Mourinho and who loved playing for him. Chelsea has played 12 games in all competitions since Mourinho left and have only beaten once; a 2-0 loss at Manchester United just three days after Grant took over a team that was still reeling from Mourinho's exit by "mutual consent". In those 12 games Chelsea emerged victorious eight times, including the 6-0 thrashing of Manchester City. They've advanced to the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup where they'll host fellow title contender Liverpool, they've pretty much sealed their place in the knockout Round of 16 in the Champions League, and have kept their home unbeaten streak alive and kicking at 69 matches.

Basically, my point is that Chelsea have done just fine under Avram Grant, they don't seem to have missed a beat; in fact, you could argue they're playing better soccer than they were when Mourinho was at the helm. Yes, a 0-0 draw at home against Fulham and a 1-0 win at Bolton may be cause for concern, but those games were early in Grant's tenure at Chelsea and I'm sure he was still getting used to his side and tactical decisions and everything that comes with being a manager instead of a coach. With games against Derby, West Ham, and Sunderland coming up in the Premiership, Grant will have a chance to rest a few players for Chelsea's two remaining group matches in the Champions League and for the clash against Liverpool in the Carling Cup.

Didier Drogba is carrying the scoring load once again (as expected) for Chelsea with 5 goals in 9 starts, and Frank Lampard has banged 4 in as well. Chelsea will never be mistaken for a club who's going to score a lot of goals; their 6-0 win over Manchester City was more of an anomaly and the Blues are more like the side who won at Wigan and Middlesbrough 2-0. I can nitpick and say their road record is a bit of a concern as they've already lost twice away from Stamford Bridge, but then again those defeats were at Manchester United and Aston Villa and there's nothing shameful about that. Chelsea also really need to do better at home; yes, they are obviously unbeaten but it's with three wins and three draws. Manchester United and Arsenal have both won 6 games out of 7 at their respective stadiums and Manchester City has won all seven of their home fixtures (though City won't be ahead of Chelsea for much longer, or of Liverpool for that matter).

Season Summaries--5. Liverpool

5. Liverpool (My preseason prediction: 3rd)

One of only two still-unbeaten teams left in the Premiership, Liverpool have had quite the roller coaster of a season. There was a stretch in September in which Liverpool scored only one goal in three Premiership matches, taking just five out of nine points from Portsmouth, Birmingham, and Wigan. From the middle of September into the middle of October, Liverpool played three Champions League matches and didn't win any of them, most surprising of which was a 1-0 loss at home against Marseille. Injuries also limited the choices Rafa Benitez had to pick from for a gameday squad and some important players went down: Daniel Agger has been out since mid-September with a broken metatarsal and has missed 13 matches; he looks set to return to the lineup this weekend, Fernando Torres has had to fight a strained adductor, Yossi Benayoun is out with an adductor tear, and Xabi Alonso has missed time with a broken metatarsal as well. These four players all are critical figures in the lineup and their absence has been a major factor in Liverpool's season so far.

However, a controversial 2-1 derby victory at Everton seems to have turned Liverpool's season around, as after another surprising Champions League loss at Turkish club Beskitas four days after, the Reds haven't lost in any competition. They thrashed Besiktas 8-0 at Anfield to thrust themselves right back into the mix to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, drew with Arsenal in a game they were 10 minutes away from winning, picked up a point at Blackburn (again, they could've won that game with a bit more luck), beat Cardiff in the Carling Cup to advance to the quarterfinals of that competition and spoiling Robbie Fowler's return to Anfield in the process, and dominated Fulham for 90 minutes in getting a 2-0 win. Liverpool haven't conceded a goal in the month of November and with Daniel Agger's supposed return this weekend against Newcastle, I can't see that stat changing.

As Liverpool are getting healthier and healthier, their schedule is getting easier and easier. Newcastle, Bolton, Reading, and Derby make up four of Liverpool's next six Premiership games with the other two coming against Manchester United and Portsmouth (both at Anfield). Liverpool play FC Porto and Marseille to complete their group stage schedule in the Champions League and should win both of those games to advance, especially as the more difficult game of the two (Porto) is at Anfield.

Torres leads the team in Premiership goals scored with 5 in 7 starts (10 appearances), and Andriy Voronin and captain Steven Gerrard have chipped in with three goals apiece. Liverpool have a game in hand on three of the four teams ahead of them; Arsenal has also played 12 games but Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea have all played 13, and most impressively, have the most points away from home out of any team in the Premiership. You have to figure that their home record (2-4-0) will only get better and if Liverpool can keep up their road form, this is a team that will leap back up into the top two or three by the end of the season.

Steve McLaren Out as England Manager; Happy Thanksgiving

As I'm sure you all know, Steve McLaren was sacked today (effective immediately) and will no longer roam the sideline as the England national team manager. Enough said.

I'll have the last five season summaries out tomorrow as the Premiership (and other leagues across Europe) get going again on Saturday. Not an exceptionally electrifying slate of games this weekend, but what can you do??

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there; I hope you were able to spend it with those you love and care about.

Who Wants to Be in Alaska in November???

Well, if you're a fan of Michigan Wolverines basketball or of college basketball in general, the answer is you. The Great Alaska Shootout is another one of these early-season tournaments for teams to claim some quality wins and build a legitimate NCAA Tournament profile. This year's edition (which starts tonight), hosted by the University of Alaska-Anchorage, has all the makings of a pretty good tournament.

Two current nationally ranked schools are in the eight-team field (#23 Butler and #14 Gonzaga), as well as traditional power Texas Tech and relative newcomer Virginia Tech. Eastern Washington, Division II Alaska-Anchorage, and Western Kentucky complete the bracket and as I said before, I think this is going to be an exciting tournament.

The first-round matchups are #23 Butler-Michigan, Eastern Washington-VA Tech, Texas Tech-Alaska-Anchorage, and Western Kentucky-#14 Gonzaga. The winners of each game advance to the semifinals (winner's bracket); the losers will play in the losers' bracket, which guarantees each of the eight teams present three games. I'll go on the record and predict Michigan, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, and Gonzaga will move on.

The Michigan-Butler game (11:30 PM, ESPN2) should be a pretty good, up-and-down affair. Both teams can run, both teams can shoot, and both teams can get after you on defense. Two things stand out to me: Butler (3-0) are by far the more experienced team, led by standout senior guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green as well as senior forward Pete Campbell. Graves and Green are both 6'1" and Campbell is 6'7", and each of these guys can really shoot the ball and bring the leadership intangibles that new head coach Brad Stevens is looking for. Michigan (2-1), however, is a much bigger, more physical team and will try to wear down Butler tonight. If they can use their superior speed and size and harass Butler, the Wolverines have as good a chance as any to win the game and move on to face Virginia Tech.

Goodbye, England; Goodbye, Steve McLaren

England's 3-2 loss today at Wembley was a tough one to stomach for obvious reasons. Scott Carson's horrible misplay of a Niko Kranjčar right-footed drive put Croatia ahead after just eight minutes, and then England's defense hung Carson out to dry just six minutes later as Ivica Olic walked in alone and rounded him to make it 2-0.

To be fair, England deserve full credit for fighting back from two goals down and in the 65th minute, Peter Crouch's spectacular volley (from a beautiful service by second-half sub David Beckham) levelled the game. At this point, England and their fans visibly heaved a sigh of relief and the Three Lions seemingly took their foot off the gas, content to escape with the draw that would've advanced them to Euro 2008.

Croatia, however, would have none of it and Mladen Petric's 77th minute goal was a dagger into England's heart. The hosts really didn't get much going after that aside from a decent effort by Darren Bent just five minutes from time, and as a result, won't be headed to Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Croatia deserves full credit as well for their professionalism and they way they competed. They had already qualified fur Euro 2008 regardless of what happened today and had nothing to play for other than pride. The Croats could've sat back and played not to lose but instead they came out and attacked and made the game theirs.

Russia's 1-0 victory against Andorra today eliminated England from Euro 2008 contention as a Russian draw or loss still would've seen England through despite their defeat. Guus Hiddink's team earned the right to go to this tournament and they are the worthy runners-up to Croatia in Group E.

Steve McLaren's job is obviously now in serious threat and if he's not fired tomorrow morning, I would be shocked. There is no excuse for England, a self-proclaimed world power, to not qualify for this tournament or any tournament for that matter, but they've regressed as a team from where they were under Sven-Goran Eriksson and that's simply not good enough. England's players will get a nice break next summer; hey, maybe they can do a little sightseeing in Geneva or Vienna!

Season Summaries--6. Portsmouth

6. Portsmouth (My preseason prediction: 6th)

'Arry Redknapp has a team to be reckoned with down on the South Coast, and it's been quite a journey in a short period of time for Portsmouth and their fans. From escaping near-certain relegation from the Premiership two seasons ago to a solid 9th place finish last year, Pompey now sit in 6th place after 13 games and figure to earn at least a UEFA Cup spot this season.

Here's a remarkable stat for you: In 9 of Portsmouth's last 13 games in all competitions, one (or both) teams involved have been held scoreless. Of those 9 games, two came in the Carling Cup (3-0 victory over Leeds, 1-0 victory over Burnley) and the remaining 7 were Premiership matches, in which Portsmouth recorded 3 wins, 3 draws, and a loss (0-1 at Chelsea).

Portsmouth's roster will be decimated in January due to the African Cup of Nations, and it's not just minor players or reserves/subs that will be leaving Pompey for the month, it's some key figures that have led the team to their good start so far this season. Benjani, the team's leading scorer thus far with 8 goals in 10 Premiership starts, will remain with the club as Zimbabwe did not qualify for Africa's largest international tournament, but Papa Bouba Diop, Kanu, Sulley Muntari, John Utaka, and Djimi Traore all figure to be selected for their respective national teams and Lauren, the Cameroonian wingback, has been called into training camp and may choose to "unretire" from international soccer for this tournament. Luckily for Portsmouth, three of their four league fixtures in January are relatively easy (at Reading, at Sunderland, and home to Derby). Pompey also make the trip to Old Trafford at the end of the month, but even with all of those players, I'm not sure they would've come away with a point.

You would have to say that December will show us exactly just what kind of team Portsmouth is. Yes, they've beaten Newcastle, Bolton, Wigan, Fulham, and Reading, as well as Blackburn, but they lost to Chelsea and Arsenal. December brings games against Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Liverpool, and Arsenal so we'll see how many points Pompey can take from those games. I like this team a lot; I'm sticking with my 6th-place prediction.

Play up Pompey!

Season Summaries--7. Blackburn Rovers

7. Blackburn Rovers (My preseason prediction: 10th)

Until Blackburn's most recent Premiership game, a 2-0 loss at Manchester United on the 11th, this was a club that was flying high, unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions. Pundits were tabbing Rovers to take Liverpool's place in the top four, especially after they looked to be the better team against the Reds in their 0-0 draw just a week prior to the United game. However as the defending champions were supposed to do, United put Blackburn back in their place and halted the considerable momentum which Mark Hughes' squad had established.

I'm still not sure what to make of this team. Blackburn have identical records both home and away in the Premiership (3-2-1) and have come away with a point in their games against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal, the measuring sticks for teams looking to fight their way into the Champions League places. They also have advanced to the Round of the 8 in the Carling Cup, where they'll host Arsenal on December 18. However, they were eliminated over two legs in the UEFA Cup 2nd qualifying round by Larissa, a Greek side, and won at Portsmouth earlier in the Carling Cup but have also lost to the South Coasters at Ewood Park in a Premier League game.

Five goals in nine Premiership starts for South African forward Benni McCarthy is a fantastic strike rate but it would be unrealistic to expect him to continue at the same pace all season, and I don't believe Roque Santa Cruz will keep up his current goals-per-game (4 goals in 11 starts) ratio either. Brad Friedel isn't getting any younger and none of the other goalies on the roster have started a Premiership game since the 2003-2004 season (two starts for Peter Enckelman). If anything happened to Friedel, Blackburn could be in trouble, and as only 15 field players have started in the Premiership this season, there's also obviously a lack of talented depth on the roster. Blackburn are making a strong UEFA Cup push, but I believe both Aston Villa and Everton will finish ahead of Rovers at the end of the year.

Season Summaries--8. Aston Villa

8. Aston Villa (My preseason prediction: 7th)

Sometimes it seems like Martin O'Neill has the entire England U-21 team out on the field when Aston Villa plays; the varying and important roles Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Luke Moore, Scott Carson, Craig Gardner, and Curtis Davies all have could make anyone who wants to put a limit of foreign players in the Premiership happy.

The first four young English players I just mentioned have all the potential to be future stars for both club and country, especially Ashley Young, in my opinion. Young is extremely quick, can play on both wings, take free kicks, and score goals. Agbonlahor has 5 goals in 12 Premiership games this season, and his emergence as well as that of Luke Moore, combined with the presence of John Carew, has relegated big summer signing Marlon Harewood to simply an afterthought.

Villa were eliminated at home in the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup by Championship side Leicester City, which has probably been their biggest disappointment of the year to this point. They've lost only once in their last 7 Premiership games and have suffered just 3 defeats all year (two of which came against Manchester United and Liverpool). Scott Carson's permanent move from Liverpool will really be a boost to Villa for years to come, and with him in goal along with the stable of young English talent amongst the field players, Aston Villa have a side that will be a contender sooner rather than later.

Season Summaries--9. Everton

9. Everton (My preseason prediction: 8th)

As their record (6-2-5) indicates, Everton have had an up-and-down season. After winning their first two Premiership games of the season, the Toffees won just twice in their next 8 league games and are coming off a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Tim Cahill's usual late-game dramatics earned Everton a point at Stamford Bridge, a game in which they were outplayed from almost beginning to end.

Everton have also won their first two group stage games in the UEFA Cup, sitting on 6 points in a group with Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Nuremberg, AZ Alkmaar, and Larissa. As the top 3 in each of the 8 groups advance to the Round of 32, Everton certainly are in good shape to move on to the knockout stages of Europe's second-most prestigious club competition.

The Toffees also are in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup, where they'll make a trip to East London and Upton Park to take on West Ham on December 12. In a quirky coincidence, Everton will simply stay a few days in London as on the 15th, they'll play West Ham again, this time as part of the Premiership schedule.

Tim Howard has looked very good in goal this season, and Yakubu has 3 goals in 7 games since coming over from Middlesbrough. However, Joleon Lescott also has 3 goals and that's good enough for the co-team lead in goals, not a good sign for Everton if they want to finish inside the top 6 or 7 this season because the teams there right now (Portsmouth, Aston Villa, and Blackburn) can certainly score, seemingly at will sometimes.

Steve Bruce Joins Wigan

As reported by ESPNsoccernet, Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce has signed a four-year, $16 million US contract to become Wigan's new manager. Wigan is believed to have sent $6 million US back to Birmingham as compensation.

This really hurts Birmingham's chances of staying in the Premiership after this season as Bruce is a quality manager whose players love playing for him. The squad he'll inherit at Wigan isn't exactly on the young side, so Bruce should be able to tap into that experience and get the best out of his new team in hopes to maintain their place in the top tier of English soccer.

The problem at Birmingham for Steve Bruce was the pending new ownership under Carson Yeung and uncertainty surrounding Bruce's future at the helm of Birmingham's second-best team. Bruce hadn't been given the guarantees he sought from the incoming ownership and obviously felt the security offered to him by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was too much to pass up.

It's uncertain who will step in and guide Birmingham, at least for the short-term, because Bruce's number two with the Blues, Eric Black, will probably step into the same role at Wigan in the very near future as assistant manager.