The Houston Cougars' Jahmar Thorpe and the Memphis Tigers' Chris Douglas-Roberts
It all comes down to this: Who has what it takes to win six straight games — and an NCAA title?
While Memphis' late-season loss to Tennessee blocked its shot at an unblemished record, the beauty of the NCAA tournament is that every team starts over during the madness that is March. "You have to be 6-0 to win a championship," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says, "so your record is really irrelevant."
Which team will emerge unscathed from the Final Four in San Antonio, giving folks a reason to remember the Alamodome? Memphis, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and UCLA have all been highly ranked, but only four teams will get a coveted No. 1 seed. "It's really important, because no No. 1 seed has ever lost in the first round," Bilas says, "and it is very unusual for a top seed to be out before the Sweet 16. It's a first-class ticket to the second weekend [of the tournament]."
Following this week's conference tournament frenzy, the field of 65 will be deter
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Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers
For additional NFL preview, read "John Madden's Opening-night Predictions" and "Big Name QBs Under Fire".
Green Bay's Brett Favre is poised to rewrite the NFL record books, but whether or not he'll close the book on his career is, once again, a question. "In '96, I remember before the Super Bowl he had said that if they won that game, that he might consider retirement," Fox analyst Troy Aikman says. "So we've literally been talking about Brett's retirement for 10 years."
With the Packers in rebuilding mode and the 37-year-old quarterback questioning his own commitment, that talk has intensified in the last two years. Favre says his decision to continue past this season will be "bas
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Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles
For additional NFL preview, read "John Madden's Opening-night Predictions" and "Brett Favre's Back, Chasning New Records".
Anyone who takes a snap in the NFL is going to be second-guessed by Monday-morning quarterbacks. But some signal-callers are under more pressure than others this season. "The climate of pro football is this," says CBS' Phil Simms: "If teams don't like what they've got, they say, 'Let's just change the quarterback and the coach, because that will cure it all.'"
Case in point: The Giants' Eli Manning is a lightning rod for criticism "just because he happens to be in New York, and I guess New York fans want him to be Peyton Manning," says CBS' Boomer Esiason, noting that Manning's "sleepy Southern personality drives them crazy here."
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